Yesterday’s ARMM elections were reportedly peaceful. But obviously, the bigger story lies not in who would eventually be proclaimed governor. The bigger and most immediate story is the ongoing violence in North Cotabato.
Still there are many poll-related questions that will need to be answered in the next few days. Generally speaking, was the automation of voting and counting successful? How fast was the counting? Can we now use this system in 2010? I also wonder how Indanan, Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji did in the gubernatorial race. Remember that Isnaji and his son have been tagged for the kidnapping of broadcast journalist Ces Drilon.
But back to the ongoing violence. Needless to say, the government must act even more swiftly to avert a humanitarian crisis in Northern Cotabato, as such scenario is already looming. To a certain extent, it may be good that that the government has gained control of some renegade strongholds. But there are now reports that these groups have retreated to nearby Maguindanao. Will we now anticipate a spillover of violence in Maguindanao? Authorities in the province should then act fast to prevent such scenario from even erupting.
In October 2006, I joined Jiggy Manicad and Maki Pulido in a special presentation of Reporter’s Notebook. I went to Capiz to produce my segment, which was entitled Aswang.
The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) herein referred to as the “Parties” to this Agreement.
Terms of Reference
The context of referents follows:
The Agreement for General Cessation of Hostilities dated July 18, 1997 Between the GRP and the MILF, and its Implementing Administrative and Operational Guidelines;
The General Framework of Agreement of Intent Between the GRP and the MILF dated August 27, 1998;
The Agreement on the General Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks Between the GRP and the MILF dated March 24, 2001;
The Tripoli Agreement on Peace Between the GRP and the MILF dated June 22, 2001;
The Tripoli Agreement Between the GRP and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) dated December 23, 1976 and the Final Agreement on the Implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement Between the GRP and the MNLF dated September 2, 1996;
Republic Act No. 6734, as amended by R.A. 9054, otherwise known as “An Act to Strengthen and Expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)”;
ILO Convention No. 169, in correlation to the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, and Republic Act No. 8371 otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, the UN Charter; the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and internationally recognized human rights instruments; and
Compact rights entrenchment emanating from the regime of dar-ul-mua’hada (or territory under compact) and dar-ul-sulh (or territory under peace agreement) that partakes the nature of a treaty device. For the purpose of this Agreement, a “treaty” is defined as any solemn agreement in writing that sets out understanding, obligations, and benefits for both parties which provides for a framework that elaborates the principles declared in the Agreement.
Have agreed and acknowledged as follows:
CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
1. It is the birthright of all Moros and all Indigenous peoples of Mindanao to identify themselves and be accepted as “Bangsamoros”. The Bangsamoro people refers to those who are natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and its adjacent islands including Palawan and the Sulu archipelago at the time of conquest or colonization of its descendants whether mixed or of full blood. Spouses and their descendants are classified as Bangsamoro. The freedom of choice of the Indigenous people shall be respected.
2. It is essential to lay the foundation of the Bangsamoro homeland in order to address the Bangsamoro people’s humanitarian and economic needs as well as their political aspirations. Such territorial jurisdictions and geographic areas being the natural wealth and patrimony represent the social, cultural and political identity and pride of all the Bangsamoro people. Ownership of the homeland is vested exclusively in them by virtue of their prior rights of occupation that had inhered in them as sizeable bodies of people, delimited by their ancestors since time immemorial, and being the first politically organized dominant occupants. Read the rest of this entry »
I can so far think of three dishes that I am intimidated to make. These would be paella, kare-kare, and leche flan.
But since I am again on a roll to challenge my culinary boundaries, I decided to conquer my fear of the leche flan tonight!
I’ve avoided making leche flan for a number of reasons. What intimidates me the most, I believe, is the need to separate the egg yolks from the whites — and the waste of egg whites in the process. I also find it more convenient to just buy it. Since the early 1990’s, our family has enjoyed the leche flan from Goldilock’s. Of course, it’s smooth, soft, creamy, and quite dense — none of those small holes. I have also grown to like the leche flan served from time to time at our building’s canteen. And of course, I love leche flan when it is served with halu-halo. An uncle of mine makes really good leche flan, and is a hit among his peers in the US. Still, his relatives in the Philippines have not tasted it (wink, wink! hint! hint! hehehe)
Since I wanted to get the recipe fast, I just searched for it in the Internet and clicked on the first or second search result.
The recipes posted on the Internet for leche flan are generally the same, so I am not posting them anymore. However, to make put my own twist on the recipe, I added some ground cinnamon powder and some orange zest on the caramel.
I also ended up using brown sugar instead of white because we ran out of it. The recipe I got from the Internet wasn’t clear on how thick the caramel should be when the water boils with the sugar. So before all the water evaporated, I turned off the heat and put it in the mould already. It really wasn’t thick, and I worried about the custard mixing with it. But surprisingly, the caramel settled below. Thank goodness!
I distributed the mixture into two containers. I put them in a larger bowl filled with water, and put them in the oven. It at this point when my real problems began. The recipes says that the flan should be cooked within an hour. But after an hour, the two containers I placed in the oven were nowhere cooked (take note that I put the containers in the oven at 12 midnight). Still nothing at 1:30. So what I did was to get the first container, the usual aluminum container out of the oven, and transferred it to a pot. I used the stove instead and got it done. Thank heavens.
I didn’t wait too long for the first batch to cool. I removed it from the mold only after a few minutes. What came out was very good. It was as creamy, rich, and dense as I wanted it to be. The brown sugar was all right, although the ground cinnamon really did not spell a difference. Still, the orange zest did! Yum-O!
Meanwhile, as of this writing, the second batch is still a disaster. The big mistake of the night was placing the custard in a pyrex container instead of the aluminum container. Big mistake. It has been three hours, and still no flan. So, be warned. I attempted to transfer it to a stove, like the first batch but to no avail. It’s now in the oven, in direct heat, and is now just an experiment.
Well, it just comes to show that nobody’s perfect. Let me just then charge this to experience. Always use aluminum containers!
All things considered, personally, making leche flan is not worth the trouble. At least, I could now say that I’ve more or less made one successful batch of leche flan. Hehe.
Finally time to sleep. Good night!
***
Update: I have just removed the second batch from the oven. It wasn’t as bad as I had expected after all. One, it still looked like leche flan, except that the caramel had already surfaced from the bottom because it boiled inside the oven, and risen to the surface. It even tasted the same as the first batch. All I can say is (considering that I am bordering on being groggy, as it is 3:27 a.m.): Weird! If the second batch had stayed longer in the oven, I bet it would have turned out as egg pie and not leche flan.
Buti na lang masarap pa rin ang kinalabasan ng second batch. Still, I’m buying leche flan the next time I want to eat it.
Here is one blast from the past — a feature story on Aklan’s Cold Springs, which was produced in 2005. The cold springs featured here are in mainland Aklan, about an hour from Caticlan, which is the gateway to Boracay. For those who don’t live in the Philippines, Aklan is an hour’s flight from Manila.
I have said this before. I am a customer from hell. I have learned to demand only the best service, partly because of the work that I do, and also because we pay for good service and have a right to get it. Hence, the people I know are not surprised when I play the role of irate customer every now and then.
Well, I don’t deliberately intend to be irate all the time, but don’t blame the customers when they bring pay up, only to be given the worst services from supposedly “fast” food establishments.
Just less than an hour ago, I had the worst delivery service from KFC (for those who are still not in the know, let me spell it out: Kentucky Fried Chicken). Just before 11:30 a.m., I and my colleagues had ordered through their 887-8888 delivery hotline. After ordering lunch for three people, I was guaranteed delivery within 30 to 45 minutes. The call center agent even told me to synchronize my watch.
The delivery came only after an hour, after a follow up call. Now, I am normally forgiving about tardiness, especially during lunch when there are many deliveries. But both the call center and the delivery man did not make any effort to apologize for the late service. The call center agent just told me that the rider had left the Makati Cinema Square branch. Naturally, I confronted the delivery man about the slow service. But instead of addressing the concerns of the customer, the delivery man just got my payment and left without any apology or thanks. He only said thank you when I sarcastically said “you’re welcome”.
Unfortunately, my bad experience with KFC continued after the delivery man left. As I down to eat with colleagues, I discovered that we got a box of spicy Hot Shots, and not the original recipe Fun Shots. Already irate and hungry to begin with, I naturally already flared up, and called the delivery hotline again to call KFC’s attention (and yes, I checked my receipt). The order was replaced another half hour later, and again, by an unapologetic delivery man.
Let me clarify that I am not selling any customer service program here, and that I am speaking only as an individual customer more than anything else. So let me say this: I am not ordering from KFC again. I am particularly boycotting their Pasong Tamo branch in Makati. It’s a poorly managed branch, and its mother organization is a poorly managed one all together. The impolite employees of this company do not deserve their paying customers, who have the right to good service, and are the reason for their existence to begin with.
So to other customers out there, be warned of this delivery service from hell.
The quest for peace in Mindanao may finally be at our doorstep with the creation of an extended, autonomous Bangsamoro state. This was supposed to be realized tomorrow with the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the MILF and the Philippine Government — until the Supreme Court came out with a temporary restraining order preventing it.
If there is really nothing illegal about the creation of the state, then this is something all should look forward to. Still, there is some degree of appropriateness in the order.
While real efforts to bring peace in Mindanao should be pushed for vigorously, it should not be carelessly rushed. This is, of course, for everyone’s sake. Just imagine if such state is established, but only to be nullified by the court later on for its constitutionality.
The creation of a Bangsamoro state or juridical entity needs full transparency, especially since there are many legal considerations. Not to mention that there are other stakeholders in the issue aside from the MILF. Can the executive branch just sign the MOA with the MILF, or will there be a need to amend the constitution and go to a plebiscite? The Supreme Court will have to decide, and fast.
The magistrates and all stakeholders must act fast for the sake of sobriety, and to prevent any violence from breaking out. Already, today’s protests in Zamboanga present a potential preview of what could later on be a full-blown conflict between Muslims and Christians. I hope I’m wrong. What I’m certain of is that this issue needs to be ironed out and resolved within the bounds of the constitution. Let this issue be a question of legality, and not be a numbers game of whose faith has more followers in Mindanao.
Violence is the last thing the country needs. Let’s not forget that the original objective of this exercise is to bring about peace.
August 12, 2008 
Posted in Commentary 
No Comments » 
comments rss
