Bird Watching UP Diliman National Science Complex

Continuing bird watching education #hunimondays on the 3rd week of UP Lakad Gunita. Thanks to Professor Bert Madrigal for his patience and passion and to AIT escorts Coco and RM for their dedication.

Bert even provided tips on manual lens opening and use of tripod for a stable documentation capture. Earlier, he taught the group how to frame the bird using the binoculars and the camera which to a first timer can be tough. His critical input of course is spotting the birds and seeding key characteristics.

Oh the thrill of spotting small unique birds, staying put for a while and capturing them well on photo.

Advocacy message for the 25 Feb is birds are displaced by the disturbance of their habitat. Poachers and hunters are less threatening.

The College of Science (CS) is the country’s premier generator of new scientific knowledge and its leading producer of PhD and MS graduates in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics. The College operates the National Science Complex that was established by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her issuance of Executive Order No. 583 on 8 December 2006.


The mission of CS is to generate new scientific knowledge that improves the accuracy of our understanding of how Nature works (scientific research), and to guide and supervise the next generations of scientists and researchers of the country (mentoring).
-Lifted from the http://www.science.upd.edu.ph/index.php/college-info

Botong at the NMPFA

“Filipino Struggles Through History” National Artist for Painting Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco’s (1912-1969) mural commissioned in 1968 for Manila City Hall by Mayor Antonio J. Villegas. Mural is said to be Botong’s “greatest extant work of art.”

Three of the original four paintings, consisting of seven separate panels, are on exbihit at the Old Senate Session Hall (3/F) of the National Museum of Fine Arts this 15 February 2019.

Filipino Struggle shows “rich tapestry of rhythm, boldness, inventiveness interwoven with the vibrancy of Philippine folklore”

Characteristics of works: “lush tropical sense of color, abiding faith in folk values” typified in his hometown Angono

• A poet of Angono. Went to school at UP School of Fine Arts
• Revived the art of mural painting
• Filipino Struggle “turned historic past into records of historic courage”
• Associated with modernist Filipino artists Victorio Edades and Galo Ocampo
• Honored with the National Artist for Painting in 1973, second recipient of the recognition after Fernando C. Amorsolo, the Grand Old Man of Philippine Art

Pińa -seda at the National Museum of Anthropology

At the Museum of Anthropology in Manila, there is an ongoing feature on the pińa-seda. "Pińa (Spanish, pineapple) cloth is considered the finest and the queen of Philippine textiles while seda (Spanish, silk) is undeniably the smoothest woven fabric in the world. Pińa combined with seda indeed exudes elegance as fine and delicate as pineapple and as smooth and luxurious as silk." -lifted from the exhibit narrative

Featured are fabrics, finished products on display and a session on embroidery making.

Pińa and seda were exclusively worn and associated with the urban elite during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines.

Popularly used for weddings, pińa-based cloths’ heritage dated back in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization. It was said that the art of ornamenting fabric must have come from China with Spaniards enhancing the skills of the natives to produce fabrics for making church linens and vestments for priests and saints.

Associated with nobility, notable trivias are: a pińa handkerchief presented to Princess Alexandra of Denmark on her marriage to Prince Edward of Wales in 1863, is now part of the Victoria and Albert Museum pińa collection. In 1947, a set of embroidered pińa cloth table napkins, doyly’s and table runner was also sent to then Princess Elizabeth and now Queen of the United Kingdom as wedding gift of the National Federation of Women’s Club of the Philippines.

Embroidery on the cloth is a complex process. When you see one wearing a barong or a baro at saya, you are seeing a creationwith a history. Worn right makes one look regal and dignified.

Gubat Tour

#gubat  Thursday tour at UP Arboretum Diliman is a soft introduction to over 10,000  vascular plant species native to the Philippines.  This is one of the five walking tours conducted for free as part of the February-March 2019 Lakad Gunita program held at the Diliman campus.

Prior to the actual tour to the various flora quadrants, briefing was made at the Institute of Biology  by the Asian Institute of Tourism guides on the do's and don'ts for better appreciation and safety. Tour took about over 2 hours where 2 groups of over 10 were led by resource persons and a watchful AIT guide.

Prior to the actual tour to the various flora quadrants, briefing was made at the Institute of Biology by the AIT guides on the do's and don'ts for better appreciation and safety. Tour took about over 2 hours where two groups of over 10 were led by resource persons and a watchful AIT guide.

One group was led by Davis Ples, a university research associate at the institute and Ramon Bandong, a senior administrative aide on Ecology and Taxonomy; the other group was led by Toto Adviento, an horticulturist, Bobby Zapata and Noel Malacid, a graphic artist with special interest in plants. Two groups towards the end converged at the herbarium with David Ples giving a lecture and demonstration on how to preserve plant specimen. Resource experts put focus on native flora, the interrelationship among flora, fauna, man and nature.

One of the highlights was a tribute made to the late Leonard Co for his valuable contribution in the collection and study of plants from all over the country. Leonardo Legaspi Co was a Filipino botanist and plant taxonomist who during his lifetime was considered the "foremost authority in ethnobotany in the Philippines." A stone was erected in front of his favorite tree where he would study and review his outputs. His numerous collections are still for further processing and may take time due to the constraints on experts and resources in the country.

#gubat tour aims to enlighten enthusiasts on the value of plants in this planet. For someone with no formal education in Biology, this half day tour was an eye opener on the value of plants, the rich resources in the Philippines and the need to study more to better appreciate wildlife in this country. This alone deserves a commendable credit to the OICA, AIT, the academe of the Institute and supporters of flora.

If there was a quiz on the Latin tags of the specimen, I would have failed. It helped that printed references are flashed, markers with relevant info are placed, trees are tagged correspondingly to a number printed on the marker, participants are cooperative and behaved and the resource persons helpful, friendly and accommodating with lots of trivia, humor and facts.

I will not forget the learnings: we have a rich diversity of flora many of which are still unidentified, no plants are the same, no forests are the same, native is better, humanity interacts with and is dependent on plants. Let us value them.

Our thanks for the time and effort sharing your knowledge. #gubatthursdays

Hanga Public Arts and Literature

#hangawednesdays of the 2019 UP Lakad Gunita is all about art pieces housed between the replica oblation sculpture in front of the Quezon Hall at the West side to the original piece of artist Guillermo Tolentino at the 4/F of the Gonzales Hall towards the East. Tour also cites the buildings around the university oval starting from Quezon Hall moving South ending in UP Theater Complex in the North.

From the sculpture of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino fronting the Quezon Hall designed by National Artist for Architecture Juan Nakpil, walk was directed at the back to spot Three Women Sewing a Flag, a sculpture created by another National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva.

Within a short walking distance are the more modern works on display at the front grounds of the Fine Arts building. Beside the modern edifice is the torn down lot where Siyam na Diwata ng Sining or the Nine Muses of the Arts another work of Napoleon Abueva is displayed.

Palma Hall named after the 4th UP President is considered an iconic building designed by architect Cesar Concio. It is a mirror image of the Melchor Hall several meters across separated by a parking lot and the lagoon; notable work of art at the lobby of the Palma Hall are the mural and the abstract design on the floor by National Artist Vicente Manansala.

Another mural on the 2nd floor featured a more recent work on different forms of revolution tagged as "Isang Daan Taon sa Bukang-Liwayway."

In a North South position is the Gonzales Hall which houses the Bulwagan ng Dangal, a heritage museum, the University Seal designed by artist Abueva and on the 4/F, the original sculpture of the oblation.

Notable at the 3/F of the library is the Judge Guillermo B. Guevara museum, founder of criminology in the Philippines. Valuable paintings of the first national artist for painting Fernando Amorsolo are on display along with papers, documents and books of the judge.

Winding down the tour, the guides directed the group to the UP Sundial, the Carillon and finally at the University Theater where the modern works nearby were cited.

Hanga is just a sampler of precious works within the university oval area. Amazing that a wealth of valuable pieces is just within reach to everyone plying in the area.

Mulat Walking Tour

UP Lakad Gunita 2019 #mulat is a 2-hour walking tour around the buildings in UP Diliman which had significant functions in the 1-9 February 1971 Diliman Commune. The commune was a protest rally staged by students, faculty around the campus in solidarity with jeepney drivers’ strike against the price hike of Php 0.03 centavos. A shooting of a student by a stray bullet indiscriminately fired by a mathematics professor irked by the barricade and the entry of METROCOM escalated the conflict.

Tour covered the Quezon Hall which gave a vantage view of the University Avenue towards the West, Carillon, Melchor Hall where graffiti’s were painted on the West wall, site of the DZUP broadcast, Gonzalez Hall or college library where radical publication as Bandilang Pula was printed, Palma Hall, the staging points of class boycotts; Sampaguita and Kamia residence halls where students sought recluse and nutrition ending in Vinzons Hall, site of assemblies and meeting to plan future mobilizations.

Trivias were narrated by Joshua and Nico. President Marcos who was not allowed entry but needing to place a call to a brod had to walk from Quezon Hall to the Institute of Mass Communication to use the pay phone. Helicopter wanting to land at the campus targeted the roofdeck of Melchor Hall failed because students were firing "kwitis."

Facilitated by Kasaysayan and Psychology students (Joshua and Nico), they ably provided the function the structures played in the 1-9 Feb 1971 Diliman commune narrating the activities that transpired on those days. AIT students Jake and Diane escorted us.

UP Diliman Commune is appreciated with the 1st quarter storm in the background. From the description of Professor Jose Marie Sison, founding chairman of Kabataang Makabayan and Communist Party of the Philippines, he described the First Quarter Storm of 1970 as “a series of protest mass actions, which began on January 25, 1970 and continued up to March of 1970. It is chronicled by Jose F. Lacaba’s Days of Disquiet and Nights of Rage and commented upon by Amado Guerrero’s First Quarter Storm of 1970.

At the beginning, ten thousand students, urban poor youth, workers and peasants massed in front of Congress in order to express themselves against the anti-national and anti-democratic policies of the Marcos regime and against the excessive spending of public money to reelect Marcos as president.
Their peaceful demonstration was brutally attacked by the police with truncheon and gunfire upon the signal of Marcos himself after delivering his “state of the nation address”. The demonstrators fought back for several hours with bare fists, wooden handles of placards and stones.””

#UPDLakadGunita2019

Bird Watching 101

I participated in Bird Watching 101 thanks to the UP OICA 2019 UP Lakad Gunita program #UPDLakadGunita2019 on Diliman fauna this 18 February 2019 triggered by a post on Facebook.

With Professor Bert Madrigal, a bird watcher resource expert facilitating the program assisted by courteous AIT tour escorts, the 3-hour session #hunimondays opened a whole new world.

What I thought was relatively easy was stimulating but challenging and demanding.

To appreciate bird watching, specific skill sets are essential to:

• See the bird with your naked eye which is straining
• See it detailed using a binocular, difficult if one is not familiar with framing
• Capture the bird with your telephoto camera which must be done quickly as the bird is constantly in motion
• Know the species and its characteristics requiring memorization
• Hear the sound, demanding concentration
• Be conscious of your safety which one tends to forget considering the 5 steps to be done
• Have the stamina for the physical activity

What made it easier for a first timer to adapt after a few minutes were:

• The guidelines provided by the two AIT female tour escorts including insect repellants, bird literatures, certificates
• The lectures and high-end equipment and binoculars of Professor Bert 
• Multi media supplements as tablets, printed copies and Professor Bert’s camera display
• Expertise shared by the resource including trivia and historical perspective on the bird’s migratory patterns
• A cooperative and eager to participate group
•  A fascinating science complex which is more than its structures as it housed a wealth of actual fauna and flora

Towards the end, my interest in bird watching was heightened especially when I could easily spot the bird with my naked eye, view it up close with a binocular, picture it, listen to the sound it produced and learn a little of the birds’ characteristics.

Seeing and documenting birds in their natural habitat is indeed a joy. Best of all, the university presented this experience at no cost to the participants but whose value is priceless.

There is still a lot more like spotting more birds, knowing what endemic means and subscribing to bird related advocacy on protection.

Influencing Fortune

Getting drowned with the frenzied activity, floods of goods and food, blinding bright colors, deafening noise and a sea of crowd seeking favorable dispositions on health, career, wealth, family, relationship in the year of the earth pig this 2019