CAUSE AND EFFECT Hermes Trismegistus is known by the Greeks as the three times great. The same person is the one the Romans called Mercury with his winged shoes and hat. He is considered as the father of Science. He propounded the seven Mighty Principles of Life which are considered the keystones of knowledge and are the rule of life. For our purpose on this topic I shall discuss only the Principle of Cause and Effect which states: “Every cause has its effect and every effect its cause”. This law proves that all things happen according to laws and coincidences are result of unrecognized cause. Everything that we can comprehend are effects of different causes. Each effect has its own cause which in turn was just an effect of something that caused it previously. Things that we see and feel are not necessarily satisfactory but it could eventually be the cause we very much want to attain the effect that will actually satisfy us. For instance, we may not be happy with the unfinished projects we see around us the resulting mess effect out of unguarded causes. We find it difficult to solve problem effects as we find it even more difficult to trace back the root cause could merely be an effect in a series that happen way, way back. Goldman and Silva illustrated this principle of cause and effect through a short anecdote: One day a leaf fall in a California forest. It landed on the forest floor, and a fat green caterpillar that was inching along had to make a sharp turn to avoid it. The caterpillar came to a log and crawled up the side. Just as it reached the top of the log a man came by and sat down, squishing the caterpillar. The man jumped up and felt the goo on the seat of his pants. On returning home he changed clothes ad took the pants to the local cleaners. While there he met a young woman and began a conversation, which continued at nearby coffee shop. They began to date, fell in love, married and had a child. Their son being very clever, did well in school, became an attorney, and went into politics, rising in his party. And so, because a leaf fall in the forest one day, Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States. (end of the anecdote). But not all unguarded series of cause and effect lead to a happy ending like that of Richard Nixon’s story. A strong willed leader could sometimes guard and guide causes in order to gain good effects or results. For instance a small sari-sari store allowed in one corner of a clean street serves as a cause that gives effect to many similar stores which in turn serve as causes that give effect to bundles of garbage thrown around until the effects become causes to finally turn a clean thoroughfare into a virtual market place. Intelligent recognition of the effects could easily lead to the proper recognition of the causes that could actually be guarded and guided accordingly. The Newly organized Alfonso Council of Tourism shall sponsor a Grand Sanghiyang Festival this Coming December, 2012. I am hoping that they will be able t to find or create causes that could give effects worthy of presenting to incoming tourists and local visitors.

SENSIBLE Whether you, are an ordinary Alfonseño, an eager Balikbayan or a curious new-comer to Alfonso, you will all extremely enjoy the unusual sight and sound of the unique modern community. All your senses shall be highly stimulated as quickly as upon your arrival. The main Mabini street from the welcome arch at Palinta which used to welcome anyone with a pleasant decency is now a virtual Matket Place complete with all the market trimmings up to the far north end of the road. You will hear all kinds of sounds with their intricate timbers from bells emitted from many school in the vicinity, to roaring of different intensity produced by hurrying tricycles, jeepneys, giant buses and hundreds of motorcycles hurrying left and right at no particular pattern, multiple private cars that are now more common than common colds. Be ready for irritating tinnitus or little deafness later. You may no longer experience the smell of pilipig and other native flavors but as you stroll down you won’t miss the scent of different fishes, of garbage from many corners and assorted other smells most difficult to describe, coming from everywhere. To end up with allergic running nose is not uncommon. Merely looking around will provide you with multitude of eye-sores ranging from hanging broken posters, uneven signs, dumped garbage, graffiti of all kinds and the likes. At the end of your visual scanning be ready for a genuine eye sores. It is also interesting to try your calisthenics from avoiding the many movements of almost everything along your way merely to prevent any serious accident that may harm you greatly if not avoided. All these are easily experienced from what used to be the most welcoming street of the town. Other streets and Baranggays have their own peculiarities but as a whole as I always say, Alfonso remains a Paradise. After all your senses have experienced all the negative effects of a rotting world, if you make a little introspection you will easily realize that behind all the dark and unfavorable results of unguarded progress lies still the unaffected paradise of people unchanged by a cruel though supposedly more civilized society. You will still meet the ever helpful and understanding friends, the welcoming, kind and loving relatives. Behind the mechanical and unethical noise everywhere, women are still cooking delicious kakanins and many well-loved delicacies such as tabliya, achara, pastillas, valenciana, tinumis, adobo, sampurado, palarusdus, puto, kutsina, and many many more especially the most symbolic palutang. Men are still working hard for their families. Women still attend to their homes and children. Lolos still quickly shares their wisdoms and experiences as Lolas remain prayerful, loving and hospitable. Young men and women still value their reputation and are aware of life’s values. Religious chapels of different sects are everywhere. It is therefore not surprising that there are no Beer Houses or Red cottages as there are also no big factories and multiple employees coming from everywhere. Beautiful Resorts are sprouting left and right. No wonder Alfonso is quickly turning into a Retirees Haven. My only fear, God forbid, is the time when Alfonso shall be peopled by retirees from everywhere displacing the original Alfonseños and Allfonseñas who kept the culture and heritages of this Paradise for a long, long time. When that happens I'll be turning in my grave in protest because being an incurable patriotic of the old town, I belong to Alfonso as Alfonso belongs to me.

THEY CAME, THE SAW, THEY CONQUERED The family of my eldest son who was based in Sydney, Australia paid us a visit early this month of July, 2012 with his pregnant wife, eldest daughter and two naughty little boys. They all came to visit Lolo and Lola. What a wonderful feeling for me and my wife to see their family that also reunited with the families of my two daughters based here in the Philippines together with their two children each. They saw how my wife and I lived with one gardener and a weekly part time maid. They learned that my wife went to Manila weekly for three days to visit the families of my two daughters and to attend to her business hobby selling varied items of interest. My son’s family weren’t fully happy in their vacation because my daughter-in-law who was four months pregnant had spotting, so, I told her to rest and stay on bed most of the time. My two grandsons were both very quarrelsome as they were experiencing strong sibling rivalry to the point that they fight about anything. My son seemed so tired and burnt out in spite of her understanding and very helpful daughter. During playtime I created several origami figures like airplane, boat, flapping bird, and many others to the delight of the children in spite of their roomful of toys back home. Every time they broke a figure all they needed to do was approach Lolo for a replacement with a new figure. Their parents realized that after all children’s happiness could just be a piece of folded piece of paper done in their presence. One time the two boys won’t agree on how and what to eat. I talked to the elder one saying: “Whenever you are eating anything always share it with your younger brother”. He did what I suggested and began sharing his spoonful of food which the younger one seemingly appreciated so much. So, I told the little one that after swallowing the food that his brother shared with him, he should say “Thank You Kuya”. He too, followed my suggestion. His father hurriedly took his camera to capture the momentous drama of friendship. I bragged to my son: “See what a simple word ‘sharing’ could do when correctly applied. The two boys also shared their toys afterwards by exchanging. We had a chance to go to Tagaytay where the children enjoyed horse-riding. The following day they moved to Manila to attend to their various appointments. I was again left with my echo, my shadow and me. They conquered my heart which they left once again empty… to be filled once again with confusing, troublesome and unavoidable senior limitations while slowly walking through the shadow of the sunset.

CANCER STIGMA Of all the ailments known to man nothing has a more detrimental stigma than Cancer. Just the mere mention of the word brings with it creeps of death. Yet Cancer in reality is nothing but a congregation of normal cells in a certain part of the body. It is like a group of juvenile cells gathered together in a certain tissue or organ of the body. This gathering of cells could be likened to a group of juvenile delinquents who are rebelling without a cause. That is what makes it detrimental if not properly attended to. Now because cancer is made up of normal cells in abnormal number they are not easily detected specially in its early stage when it is almost symptomless, the reason they turned out to be detrimental as they seem to be easily correctible except that the people has already develop their own biased understanding in such a way that the moment they hear the word cancer, the word death immediately follows in their minds and this thought is then projected directly to the patient. Cancer per se is curable but the stigma of death attached to it makes it difficult to treat. When a person is diagnosed with Cancer almost all his relatives and friends and most everybody believe that sooner or later he is going to die. Imagine the powerful collective thought of everyone sending vibrations of death to someone diagnosed with cancer. As I said mind power is limitless and it is difficult to counteract what the mind has perceived. So many things are now coming out as cancer cure as so many things also are coming out as cause of cancer but the idea of death that goes with cancer remains constant. In Russia I heard that many cancer patients are isolated. Medical bulletins are kept secret and visitors are not allowed to see them. The percentage of recovery is pretty well. It would be most practical if here we also isolate our cancer patients, prevents visitors from coming and as much as possible refrain from talking about the ailment while treatment is going on. The psychological aspect of Cancer is generally neglected too although it has been found out that there is such a thing as Cancer personality. Easily afflicted are those with centered self-pity, having a limited capacity to trust others or even himself. Those persons whose attitude are non-forgiving are also very prone to Cancer. Even some who can’t keep a long relationship as well as those who experienced rejection whether real or imaginary. Most of all those that holds resentment. \ By not visiting cancer patients confined in the hospital we could be of more help in treating the patient while ourselves are being prevented too from being exposed to many resistant viri and bacteria found in the hospital especially at the intensive care units.

THE LEGEND OF PIRITAY During the American occupation in the early nineteen hundreds, a farmer, together with his grade school son went to the forest to gather firewood. The father got so busy that somehow he forgot about his inquisitive and playful son who lost his way while chasing birds and butterflies. The father couldn’t locate him and even shouting aloud the name of the son did not help. It was about twilight time when the young boy, grinning happily suddenly appeared not far from where his father was waiting fearfully. Asked where he went and how he came back, the boy explained excitedly that he met a certain beautiful lady who invited him to visit many nice places inside the forest. He was even offered delicious foods before he was brought back to his father. The father inquired who and where the beautiful lady could be found. The son who had been taught in school about fairies said . She is FAIRY ‘TAY’ ( Meaning she is a fairy, father, ‘tay’ being a tagalog shortcut for ‘tatay’ or father). The father thought that the name of the lady was PIRITAY (Fairy ‘tay) and ever since the lady has been known by that name. It was not the last time that the lady appeared. She materializes suddenly whenever a child was in danger or in need of help. She was the GOOD FAIRY that protects the environment. Anybody she caught destroying the environment was led astray and would find it difficult to find his way home. That was why the lady fairy had a somewhat bad connotation before. She would be seen appearing in different ages, sometime as a pretty girl or a dainty old lady but all the time she was wearing red. Al those who have seen her remembered vividly that she was always wearing red attire. Whether she was a GOOD FAIRY or a GUARDIAN ANGEL wasn’t fully established but many swear up to this day that they have seen her or been offered help by Piritay when they were children.

CANCER STIGMA Of all the ailments known to man nothing has a more detrimental stigma than Cancer. Just the mere mention of the word brings with it creeps of death. Yet Cancer in reality is nothing but a congregation of normal cells in a certain part of the body. It is like a group of juvenile cells gathered together in a certain tissue or organ of the body. This gathering of cells could be likened to a group of juvenile delinquents who are rebelling without a cause. That is what makes it detrimental if not properly attended to. Now because cancer is made up of normal cells in abnormal number they are not easily detected specially in its early stage when it is almost symptomless, the reason they turned out to be detrimental as they seem to be easily correctible except that the people has already develop their own biased understanding in such a way that the moment they hear the word cancer, the word death immediately follows in their minds and this thought is then projected directly to the patient. Cancer per se is curable but the stigma of death attached to it makes it difficult to treat. When a person is diagnosed with Cancer almost all his relatives and friends and most everybody believe that sooner or later he is going to die. Imagine the powerful collective thought of everyone sending vibrations of death to someone diagnosed with cancer. As I said mind power is limitless and it is difficult to counteract what the mind has perceived. So many things are now coming out as cancer cure as so many things also are coming out as cause of cancer but the idea of death that goes with cancer remains constant. In Russia I heard that many cancer patients are isolated. Medical bulletins are kept secret and visitors are not allowed to see them. The percentage of recovery is pretty well. It would be most practical if here we also isolate our cancer patients, prevents visitors from coming and as much as possible refrain from talking about the ailment while treatment is going on. The psychological aspect of Cancer is generally neglected too although it has been found out that there is such a thing as Cancer personality. Easily afflicted are those with centered self-pity, having a limited capacity to trust others or even himself. Those persons whose attitude are non-forgiving are also very prone to Cancer. Even some who can’t keep a long relationship as well as those who experienced rejection whether real or imaginary. Most of all those that holds resentment. By not visiting cancer patients confined in the hospital we could be of more help in treating the patient while our selves are being prevented too from being exposed to many resistant viri and bacteria found in the hospital especially at the intensive care units.

ENIGMA OF AILMENTS Ailments, most of them are products of the mind. It could be a simple attention-getting device like asthma for example and not so commonly, whooping cough. A sever asthmatic attack easily gets the most attention. Yes, ailment could be a reason for international fame. All that is necessary is be afflicted with un uncommon health problem not curable in your own country. Travels to other countries would be needed to find a cure. Health problems could be an expression of guilt. Someone who has been negligent and irresponsible during his younger days needs painful ailments to punish himself while repenting for what he failed to do. More common are ailments to mask responsibility like a child that begins to feel stomach ache and actually vomits whenever there are examinations in class or an adult experiencing sudden attack of vertigo to avoid speaking engagement. For lack of any other good reason to be socially accepted, an incurable social climber develops a unique ailment unknown everywhere to make her the only person having a disease of that kind. That makes her so different from the rest. To neutralize for all the sufferings she experienced while rearing her children, a mother needs a somehow serious ailment that will need all the attention and the services of her children in return for all that she have done to them when they were young. Most of all an ailment could be a trophy for all his good performances. Look at that big scar that he incurred while performing a risky job to earn for the family. How about that fracture-dislocation he has been carrying since his younger days for saving a child from drowning. Come to think of it, most ailments are in the mind, products of the mind and could only properly be cured by the help of the mind. Yet, that mind-power is the power often neglected.