Junking Junk Food

February 2007

Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Food Industry Leaders Agree to Set Healthy Standards for Snacking in School Landmark Agreement with Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association



The Alliance for a Healthier Generation “ a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association” has announced a breakthrough collaboration with five of the nations leading food manufacturers to help combat childhood obesity in America.

Campbell Soup Company, Dannon, Kraft Foods, Mars and PepsiCo have joined with the Alliance to establish first-ever voluntary guidelines for snacks and side items sold in schools that will provide healthier food choices for the nations children.

These five food industry leaders will invest in product reformulation and new product development, while encouraging broader support of the guidelines.

The new guidelines, which were developed in conjunction with nutrition experts at the American Heart Association, will apply to foods offered for sale in schools outside of the National School Lunch Program to students before, during and after the school day.

The guidelines cover foods and snacks, desserts, side items and treats sold throughout schools, including school vending machines, ala carte lines, school stores, snack carts and fundraisers.
The new, science-based guidelines will provide kids with food and snack products that are lower in calories, reinforcing the nutrition lessons they learn at home and in the classroom about healthy, balanced diets.

Notably, the guidelines promote the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nutrient-rich foods, fat-free and low fat dairy foods and place limits on calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium.

These foods cover a wide range of choices, including everything from chips to chocolate, crackers to cookies, candy, ice cream, granola bars, nuts, soup and yogurt. With these key companies on board, the guidelines will have a real impact across America.

Kids across America will benefit from todays agreement, said Raymond Gibbons, M.D., American Heart Association president. Our goal is to point kids to foods that are healthier and that will contribute to a healthier lifestyle overall. By working with schools and industry to implement these guidelines, we are helping to give parents peace of mind that their kids will be able to make healthier choices at school.

By considering the waist line as well as the bottom line, these leaders in the food industry are taking a huge step to ensure good health of our children, said Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The fight against childhood obesity must be waged on many fronts and I commend these companies for making a positive impact on our children.

The five participating companies are already demonstrating their commitment to the new guidelines: Campbell will promote the benefits of its products that are lower in calories, fat and sodium and will leverage its expertise with lower sodium natural sea salt to provide additional reduced sodium soup options in food service.
Dannon will reduce the sugar content of its Danimals yogurt cups for kids by 25 percent, even though the products already conform to the Guidelines before the reduction.
Kraft will add the Alliances sodium and calorie caps to its current vending guidelines and extend them to include all of its competitive foods sold in schools.

Mars will create a new line of nutritious snack products that are formulated with the specific needs of children and teens in mind and that meet or exceed the Alliance guidelines.
In addition to its products like Baked Lays that already qualify, PepsiCo will reformulate several products and also encourage schools, distributors and vending partners to offer products that meet the new Alliance guidelines.

Fifty four million students attend nearly 123,000 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide, making schools a natural place to promote and reinforce healthy habits in youth. The participating companies have committed to working with the Alliance to help encourage broad acceptance of these new guidelines by schools and food distributors alike, as well as to increasing the range of qualifying products to schools, all with the aim to curb increasing trends in childhood obesity.

The Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association partnered in May 2005 to create a new generation of healthy Americans by addressing one of the nations leading public health threats : childhood obesity. The Alliance focuses on preventing childhood obesity and creating healthier lifestyles for all children. The Alliance launched its Healthy Schools Program in February of this year.

The program takes a comprehensive approach by supporting schools seeking to improve the nutrition of the foods sold in schools, to provide high quality physical and health education programs, to offer after school programs that incorporate physical activity; and to establish staff wellness programs. The Alliance will recognize schools that meet recognition criteria in these areas.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the major underwriter of the Healthy Schools Program. The Alliance targets several areas that will spark change and slow the increasing rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. and encourage healthier lifestyles for young people.
The effort will focus on four key areas: industry; schools, healthcare professionals and kids.

Trouble in Paradise

By Reyna Mae L. Tabbada
Bulatlat.com

The plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and immigrants in the United States still hangs in the balance with the recent passage of U.S. Senate Bill (SB) 2611, the equivalent of House Bill (HB 4437) or The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. The act aims to regulate the influx of migrants in the U.S.

The two bills have to be consolidated into one bill, though. But if enacted into law, the act will have far-reaching implications not only on overseas Filipinos staying or working in the U.S. but also on the Philippine economy which is remittance-dependent.

New York-based Farida Ali, organizer of Justice 4 Immigrants (J4I), said “It is a terrible reality that as 3,000 Filipinos leave the Philippines each day, at least 3,000 families are torn apart. The two bills introduced by both U.S. Congress houses stand to create more difficult lives for at least 3.5 million Filipinos in the U.S. and the 12 million they support back home.”
“These bills, Ali further said, “will push (both Filipinos in the U.S. and their families back home) further into the shadows of marginalization, rather that improve their lives.”

J4I is a broad, non-profit coalition of organizations focusing on the welfare of migrants, with chapters in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Keeping the Philippine economy afloat

Based on the 2005 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOF) by the National Statistics Office (NSO), some 1.33 million Filipinos worked abroad from April to September 2005. On the other hand, the J4I said that one million more Filipinos went overseas in 2006, citing Philippine government reports.

Of some estimated 10 million Filipinos working or living abroad, at least four million are in the United States, mostly in California and in the east coast. U.S. immigration authorities say about 200,000 Filipinos are staying in America illegally. Independent estimates put the figure at one million.

With most Filipinos who work abroad sending money to their families they left in the Philippines, a total of $10.7 billion in overall overseas remittances helps keep the country’s economy afloat with growth pegged at 11 percent. Of this figure taken in 2005, $6 billion came from Filipinos living or working in the U.S.

And the trend of dependency to foreign remittances lingers, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) projected remittances sent by OFWs and Filipino immigrants to grow by almost 12 percent this year. This is due to government expectation of higher deployment of Filipino workers, especially medical professionals.

Three-tiered dilemma

The SB 2611 proposes three approaches for legalization, namely: (1) guest worker program; (2) expanded detention and deportation without due process; and (3) militarization and fencing of the border.

These provisions benefit only a few Filipino workers who have already stayed in the U.S. for more than five years, giving them a chance for legalization. But not for Filipinos and other foreign nationals who have worked there for less than the given period: They would be deported to their home countries.

Aside from the financial constraints that such a scenario presents, the stipulations in SB 2611 make overseas Filipinos vulnerable and more prone to abuse by employers who would take advantage of a desperate pool of workers.

“In other words,” says Robert Roy, the Executive Director of Philippine Forum, a member organization of the J4I, “the majority of the 12 million undocumented persons (of various nationalities) in the U.S. will continue to see no light at the end of their dark tunnel that has kept them as an underclass forced to live in the shadows. The only people who stand to gain from this are slave-driving employers and big business who will prey on their vulnerability and force immigrants into indentured servitude.” Bulatlat.com

Summer of Their Circumcision

By Dee Ayroso
Bulatlat.com


For some, it was fun. For others it was traumatic.
For a young boy going through this rite of passage, or a young medical student doing the procedure, the experience of ‘tulì’ or circumcision is truly memorable.


Every summer, on top of the list of most 10 to 12-year-old Filipino boys alongside camping and swimming, is getting tulì, or circumcision.

“Magpapatuli po atsaka mag-aaral ng mag-arnis” (Get circumcised, and learn arnis,) casually answered a 12-year-old when asked about his summer activities. “Para maging tunay na lalaki, atsaka po para tumangkad” (So as to become a man, and to get taller), the boy added.

Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of the penis, is accepted by most Filipinos as a must for boys entering puberty, a rite of passage to manhood. There are, however, no proven benefits of circumcision.

Collective experience

Filmmaker Ron Papag had fond memories of a “collective experience”, when he got circumcised as an eight-year-old in the province of Quezon.

Papag said he and his cousins looked forward to getting their tulì one summer. The day before, each prepared a thin cloth which had a hole in the middle. The cloth would serve as the dressing for the circumcised penis.

They woke up early the next day, took a dip in the sea, gathered guava sprouts, and put on loose shorts. Each boy then bought a bag of ice, and headed to Mang Arsenio, the village tolero, or the one who circumcises. As they walked, the boys rubbed their crotch with the ice pack to numb the penis.

Arriving at Mang Arsenio’s house, the boys lined up and started chewing the young guava leaves. Mang Arsenio first examined the boy’s foreskin.

“Titingnan niya kung hiwa o pukpok” (He decides whether to make a cut or to use a small mallet), Papag said.

Younger boys are usually given a cut, but older boys get the mallet. Mang Arsenio then retracted the broken skin, and asked the boy to spit out the chewed guava leaves. The mush is rubbed on the cut, after which the tolero dresses the cut.

Papag said he and his cousins stayed until Mang Arsenio was done with everyone, so everyone could watch the procedure.

“Lahat nanonood kaya pipigilin mong umiyak kahit masakit,” (Everybody was watching so we did not cry even if it was painful.) he said. When everyone was done, they all walked home, cowboy-like, with legs apart.

The following days, he and his cousin would meet to take a bath in the sea every morning, “comparing notes” on how each one was healing. If one’s cut turned “nangamatis” or infected, the others would tease, at the same time give advise on how to properly dress and treat his cut.

Papag recalled the ritual to be more fun than painful, a bonding with his male cousins, and even with his favorite uncle, Tio Pepe, who also helped him dress his cut. Most of all, after the circumcision, they could do things they weren’t allowed to do before.

“Pag tulì ka na, pwede ka nang manligaw (Once you’re circumcised, you can court girls),” Papag said smiling.

Tulì is also a rite of passage of sorts for those doing the procedure, said Dr. B., a female doctor who requested anonymity. She had both funny and traumatic memories of having circumcised young boys in several “Operation Tulì” as a medical student.

“It’s a chance for medical students to have experience in minor surgery, that’s why our sorority regularly took part in surgical missions in communities,” said Dr. B.

Dr. B’s most memorable tulì experience was in a surgical mission when she was just a second year medical student, and had to help circumcise a 16-year-old.

The team had set the age limit to 15 but the boy’s family insisted on getting him circumcised. Dr. B and another student did the procedure, but they weren’t able to stitch close all the veins.

“The boy’s penis had hematoma (internal bleeding), and became enlarged. We panicked because we had no licensed doctor in our team. We had to rush him to the hospital, where blood was removed from his penis, and the veins were sutured,” Dr. B recalled.

Apologetically, Dr. B monitored the boy’s healing, visiting him everyday for a week, to clean and dress the cut. The family of the boy, who had a learning disability, blamed Dr. B for what happened and refused to take the responsibility of monitoring the boy’s healing.

Traumatized, Dr. B didn’t want to be a doctor anymore, and refused to join anymore medical mission. But her sorority sisters persuaded her.

“I joined another medical mission, and there was another 16-year-old. No way was I going to do the procedure. But my sorority sisters convinced me to do it, so that I would find out what I did wrong before. I went on to do it, and it was okay,” she said.

Dr. B said that it’s mostly the mothers who are eager to get their sons circumcised, anxious not to lose the opportunity to get free medical service. “But we don’t force the child if he is not yet ready.” Dr. B said boys who were not yet ready would cry before they even administer anaesthesia.

Misinformed

Groups and experts who are against circumcision, however, say that circumsion is harmful, and even poses unnecessary risks to the child.

“The best way to care for a child’s intact penis is to leave it alone,” said Dr. Paul Fleiss.
In his article “The Case Against Circumcision,” Fleiss compared penile foreskin to one’s eyelid. The article was published by Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living in 1997.

“The natural penis requires no special care. A child’s foreskin, like his eyelids, is self-cleansing. Forcibly retracting a baby’s foreskin can lead to irritation and infection,” Fleiss said.
With the removal of the penile foreskin, a boy is deprived of “its numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions,” he said. Fleiss argued that only around 10 to 15 per cent of the world’s male population are circumcised.

Experts against circumcision advise parents to get proper information before deciding on getting their sons circumcised. Bulatlat .com

Where would you go in the sunset of your life?

The Pros and Cons of Retiring in the Homeland

By VAL G. ABELGAS

Should I stay or should I go? For millions of Filipinos all now residing or working in countries all over the world, it was a question they asked themselves through many sleepless nights before finally deciding to leave behind loved ones, friends and relatives, childhood memories, and the security of home to work and live on distant shores where loneliness, fears and uncertainty awaited them.

To many, leaving was a necessity. Economic realities required that they go somewhere else to find better opportunities for themselves and their children, and for those who had to leave their family behind, to find better-paying jobs so that their loved ones could live better and more comfortably. To others, it was the realization of a life-long dream. To a few, leaving was forced by circumstance -- persecution, escape, dragged by parents.

After years of toiling for the future in foreign lands, tens of thousands of overseas Filipinos are again faced with the same dilemma: Shall I stay or shall I go? Ready to retire in a few years, many Filipino baby boomers, especially those in the United States, are asking themselves the same question: Shall I spend the rest of my life in this, my adopted land? Or shall I go back to my homeland and enjoy the warmth and comfort of being with old friends and relatives?

There are many good reasons to retire in the Philippines, and to many, they are too tempting to resist. Having accumulated enough dollars from savings, 401-K, home equity and other investments, not to mention prospective pension funds, they would be living lives of millionaires in the Philippines.

They already talk of living in one of those condominiums in Makati or Ortigas, or in a lavish house on a beachfront property, or ina farm or ranch in their native provinces, or in one of those beautiful homes in Tagaytay advertised daily on television and Filipino weeklies. Imagine being served by a maid, being driven around by a chauffeur, or being cared for by a personal nurse. They look forward to eating sugpo and inihaw na bangus while enjoying the cool breeze from the sea or while enjoying the refreshing view of Taal Volcano in Tagaytay.

They imagine having a message every week, dining in those plush restaurants, and having a manicure and pedicure while getting their hair cut by the likes of Ricky Reyes. The golfers can play golf every day if they so desire, with caddies and umbrella girls to boot.

Oh, the good life! After all, they have toiled for years. Don’t they deserve to live like kings and queens in the company of their long-lost friends and relatives?

But let’s look at what some baby boomers have to say. Dulma and Dalmy Santos of Lawndale, a nurse and accountant who have been living in the US for almost 30 years, look forward to retirement in the Philippines, but they are not sure if they could stay there permanently.

Their problem, and this is shared by most Filipinos in the US and Canada, is that their children can’t come with them and they can’t stand being away from them for long periods. “Besides, these kids will soon marry and give me grandchildren. Of course, I would want to enjoy my apos like all grandmothers! How can I play with them when I’m in the Philippines?” Santos asked.

Claire Bondoc of New Jersey shares the same predicament. When she, her husband Leng and their two children visited the Philippines a few years ago, the kids enjoyed their stay, but said they couldn’t live there. Leng has been dreaming of spending his retirement years in the Philippines – and play golf with buddies every day – but he doesn’t want to be away from his children either.

Some Filipinos caught in this dilemma still manage to enjoy the best of both worlds by spending half of the year in the Philippines and half of the year with their kids and grandkids in the US. But they admit they can only do this for a few years because of the expense involved, not to mention the difficulty of 12 to 16 hours of air travel, especially for those whose back and joints ache often.

Still, the Philippines is definitely a retirement haven not only for returning Filipinos, but for retirees from other countries as well. In fact, there are now retirement villages for Japanese, Koreans and Europeans in Tagaytay and other areas. In an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jose Caedo, formerly of Batangas and now living in San Francisco, pointed out:

“The principal appeal for retirement in the Philippines is the lower cost of living. At present, the Philippine Peso (PhP) exchange rate is approximately PhP 50 to $1. Housing, food, and labor costs are quite reasonable. A two-bedroom condominium in one of the posh “villages” in Makati City costs about $400 per month, and one can dine out on average at a three-star restaurant for less than $10, including tax and tip. If you plan to hire domestic help, a private driver’s salary is approximately $200 per month, while a trained housekeeper will earn approximately $100 month. These salaries are lower if you live in the provinces.

“Watching a film in a first-run movie theater there costs only 25 cents, with a good light meal (called “merienda”) afterwards for about $2. One can hire an air- conditioned taxicab for eight hours for less than $25. Or take the MRT monorail from end to end for less than $1. And a pair of locally made blue jeans costs less than $10.

“...if you have an individual retirement income of approximately $1,500 to $2,000 per month (PhP80,000 to 100,000) you can live quite well there. ”

But these are just some of the factors that make retirement in the Philippines inviting, not only for returning Filipinos but for other foreigners as well. Foremost of these is the tropical weather, especially when you opt to live in cool places such as Tagaytay and Baguio, or beside the sea, such as Subic or Nasugbu, Batangas. Anticipating the deluge of retirees from Filipino communities and from other nationals all over the world, the Philippine government and the private sector have been very aggressive in their preparations.

A study titled “OFW Remittances: Patterns, Impact, Sustainability,” recently presented by former Undersecretary of Finance Romeo Bernardo to the Ayala group, said the majority of Filipinos overseas intend to settle back in country when they retire and this could be a significant catalyst for growth in the future.

In response, developers have been building condominiums and residential subdivisions all over the country, with projects that target the low-budgeted as well as the high-end retirees, including many in the provinces. Representatives of these developers have been touring the world, selling properties to overseas Filipinos, and establishing sales networks in places they visit, all hoping to get a fair share of the retirement pie.

Obviously,the Philippines has opened the door to retirees. So, aside from being away from kids and grandkids, what’s stopping overseas Filipinos from planning outright for retirement in the Philippines?

There are many concerns raised by prospective retirees in the Philippines. One is the scary prospect of being a victim of crimes so common in the country — holdup, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and worse, getting killed literally for a dollar. It may be advisable for returning Filipinos to live simply, not ostentatiously.

Another concern — and this was actually experienced by many who retired there and came back in frustration — is that relatives, friends and neighbors ask them for money and all kinds of financial assistance nearly every single day. It seemed okay at first, being able to help friends and relatives, but to many, it became annoying and costly. After about a year, their patience worn thin and their pockets worn thinner, many of these people came back to the US, before their retirement money ran out.

One other concern is the fact that after living in another country and another culture for years, there is a possibility that the returning Filipino may have difficulty readjusting to the Philippine culture.

For example, it is not uncommon for balikbayans to gripe about bribes, red tape, people not waiting in line, Filipinos urinating in public places, people bumping them and not even saying “excuse me,” drivers cutting and swerving all the time, people who are always late for appointments, men drinking in front of variety stores, people dropping by without prior notice, and many more Filipino habits that were tolerable when the returning Filipinos were still living in the Philippines decades ago, but, having experienced a different culture, may not be as tolerable anymore.

Precy Tabije-Caronongan, a former nurse who opted to stay in the Philippines, suggests that Filipinos planning to retire in the Philippines should “get a taste of how it is to live in the Philippines now, before finally deciding where to retire.”

“Test the water first. No question about financial comfort and related activities. The concern is more on re-learning the “culture.” The “culture” you knew then may not be the same today, or your view of it then may be different now after your immersion in a another culture. People come and go, and in our association with people, we change and they change, too. You cannot just come back and continue living on as if nothing happened between the time you left and the time you decide to come back,” Caronongan said.

Lucia de Castro-Unsay, an executive at San Miguel Corp., narrates two contrasting experiences by two returning Filipinos. She tells of an uncle who lived in the US and retired in the Philippines, in the rural island town of Anda, Pangasinan (biggest island in the Hundred Islands group). It was easy for him to decide to retire in the Philippines since he was childless and all relatives and friends were in Pangasinan. He lived a comfortable, but simple life. The first two years were relatively difficult because his lifestyle had become “Americanized” and he felt a bit alienated because his interests and views were different.

“But I guess the decision to stay was there, so he made efforts to be back in society’s mainstream without losing what he had become during his years of stay in the US,” Unsay said.
“On the other hand, I have a friend who lived in Australia for years and also decided to come back (again, this one is childless) and stayed for two years. On the third year, for unknown reasons, he packed up and went back to Australia and decided he would retire there.”

In the final analysis, it is really up to the person to decide whether he would retire in the Philippines, Mexico or right here in the United States. But it would be best for these returning Filipinos, as Caronongan suggests, to try the water first. Perhaps, staying in the Philippines for six months or so would help retirees to make a decision whether to spend the rest of their lives in the “land of fun, flowers, food, fruit and friendly people,” as Caedo describes the Philippines, and enjoy the world’s most beautiful sunset, or be close to their children and grandchildren in a land that could become lonelier in the sunset of their lives.

Home Is Where the Art Is

By Pia Abelgas-Orense

Global chic is a new buzz word in the world of home decoration. It’s a popular trend that combines exotic textures, vibrant colors and beautiful hardwood from around the world.

A new store in Southern California, Bahay Interior Design Gallery, capitalizes on this burgeoning fascination with all things exotic.

All the furniture and accent pieces showcased -- from the sofas, dining tables and buffet bars to the lamps, capiz plates and candles -- are made by Filipinos in factories in the Philippines.

The store’s name is a literal translation (bahay is home in Tagalog) of the concept that inspired founder Kana Manglapus and her partners in the Philippines, Eugene and Margarita Lorenzana.

Manglapus, a granddaughter of former Philippine Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus, handles the day-to-day operations of the business, using her art background and her extensive travel experience to create the gallery atmosphere in the Culver City store. Before relocating to Los Angeles with her husband, Manglapus lived in New York, where she was director of Milk Gallery, one of the newest art and pop culture exhibition spaces in downtown New York.

The Lorenzanas manage the Philippines-end of the business, with Eugene the main designer of the furniture sold at Bahay. The couple owns the Office Warehouse chain in the Philippines, where they also own a home furnishings store called Roomscape. The Lorenzanas graduated from NYU’s and Columbia’s graduate business schools.

Lorenzana’s creations fuse the Asian aesthetic and contemporary design, resulting in simple, clean and elegant lines.

“We wanted to create a soothing look, sophisticated but warm,” Manglapus said.

The idea is to mix art and furniture. The artwork hanging on the walls complement the furniture around the room, and vice versa, and the resulting mix mimics the concept of global/contemporary design.

Along the store’s walls are paintings and photographs from contemporary artists whom Manglapus met as the director of Milk Gallery.

Native and folk-art items complete the global feel: capiz plates, lamps shaped into a baboy (pig) and palaka (frog) using bamboo and acid-free paper, and native gods and bulols made by artisans in Sagada and northern Philippines.

Bahay’s furniture are crafted by factories in the Philippines using native raw materials and exotic hardwood, such as mahogany and kamagong.

“We’re proud of that,” Manglapus said. “But we are not too ethnic so
our designs still translate.”

Most of the pieces can be custom-designed for each client. A client can change the dimensions, pick a different wood stain or fabric and even tweak the details to fit the homeowner’s personal style.

Manglapus and Lorenzana communicate through the Internet. After a
client decides on a design, Manglapus gives Lorenzana the specs, which are then drawn up by draftsmen in the Philippines. The rendering is then e-mailed back to Manglapus for the client’s approval.

Word-of-mouth marketing has worked to their advantage, thanks in large part to an opening celebration that featured some of the artists whose works are displayed. They also attract a lot of foot traffic from the diners and shoppers who walk along a very busy downtown promenade in Culver City and from employees at Sony studios, located just a couple of blocks from Bahay. The store created enough buzz in its first three months that they were recently featured in a short piece in the Los Angeles Times and latimes.com.

“We’re doing better than expected,” Manglapus said. “And the Filipino community has been very supportive.”

Bahay’s intention is to celebrate the artistry and craftsmanship of Filipinos and at the same time help homeowners create unique living spaces that reflect their personalities and styles.

“Bahay means home, and that’s what we’re all about,” Manglapus said.

Bahay Interior Design Gallery is located at 3825 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call (310)836-2181 or visit www.bahayhome.com.


Pia Abelgas Orense is a copy editor and page designer for the San Gabriel Valley Newsgroup.

The Collector and the Antique Bell

By Doris Trinidad

Unlike the TV character who collects souls, this one collects things, beautiful antiques and artifacts he encounters in his travels all over the world. By the time he had accumulated enough items to last him several lifetimes, he decided to retire, relax and enjoy life surrounded by his travel mementos.

Interesting as he seemed to be, I did not have the opportunity to meet him right away. I must begin my recounting several weeks earlier when my son and his family including me went looking for a place to have lunch, preferably somewhere we hadn’t been to before. We found this place in Mandaluyong with a rather discreet signage: Cafe Juanita, and decided to try it. The buffet table looked inviting and we were told we could also order a la carte. We settled in, prepared to relish the entrees.

The food didn’t disappoint, but apart from the simple yet tasty cuisine, something about the place intrigued us and sparked our curiosity. The ambience was one of abundance, even surfeit. One would perhaps describe it as overdone, what with tiffany lamps hanging over every table and from every corner, statuary guarding nooks and walls, antique cabinets bursting with delicate porcelain, an exotic headboard reminiscent of opium beds serving as one wall, gossamer Indian shawls draped over chairs. One had to move very carefully lest one trip over or topple some Eastern god scowling in a corner.

His curiosity very much aroused, my son asked a waiter who the owner of the restaurant might be and was told the place is owned by Dr. Efren “Boy” Vasquez and the profusion of exotic things comprised his personal collection. The waiter added the quite surprising information that everything in the restaurant is for sale! That’s right, everything -- lamps, chairs, crockery, statuary, the wall if you fancied it, the bells...

Ah, the bells. And thereby hangs another tale.

As it happened, this son of mine had of late developed an inordinate fondness for bells. We joked about it, and called it his “bell phase.” It started with his being attracted to bells being peddled along the streets leading to Buddhist temples in Japan where he is stationed. He bought one for home decor, then bought another to give to me, followed by others when my daughter, an inveterate antique lover, visited him. When we went to Greenhills, an interesting arrangement of bells caught his eye and forthwith he bought it. And now at Cafe Juanita in what seemed like a stroke of destiny there was a large bronze bell, obviously very old, hanging on the wall before his entranced eyes. There was even an ornate contraption for striking it. He asked the waiter how much it cost. He was told the price. He mulled it over, not too long, and told the waiter to wrap it up for him. On the opposite wall was another bell which looked like a twin of the one he had bought. Luckily for the keeper of the purse (his wife) he thought one bell was enough.

At home while installing his precious find near the main entrance, my son noticed some words etched on the bell: Qui me tangit vocem meam audi. Dredging my two years elementary Latin ages ago, I translated the word to mean “Who touches me hears my voice.” My son was transported by the beauty and mystery of the words. He became overwhelmed with desire to buy the other bell, the twin of the one he had bought.

On his next home leave he called up Cafe Juanita with intent to buy the bell but was told it had been sold a while ago. Crestfallen, he nevertheless made an appointment to meet Dr. Efren Vasquez because he felt like knowing more about the man and his fascinating collection.

So we returned to Cafe Juanita and met Dr. vasquez and found him to be an amiable man who displayed a wry sense of humor as he talked about himself.

“I was a social climber, “ he confessed. “I loved loved hobnobbing with the social elite, those whose faces often appeared in society pages.”

He specialized in obstetrics and gynecology at Makati Medical Center but after so many years delivering babies and cultivating the rich and famous, he decided to turn around and live an almost reclusive life just enjoying his antiques and artifacts.

He opened a restaurant and named it after his mother, Juanita.

Five years ago he started selling some of his collection to those who would love them and take care of them. It hurts to part with them, he said, “like parting with your children.”

Adjacent to Cafe Juanita is another eatery, also his, which he named Gusto, a carinderia-style place catering to workers and employees. The same food, though with less diversity, is served in Gusto as in Cafe Juanita, and the clientele likewise enjoy their meals amid a plethora of antiques and valuable bric-a-brac not unlike in the more pricey place next door.

Perhaps to concole my son for his failure to buy the bell of his choice, the collector gave him a small silver bell with a melodious tinkling sound which he used to summon his waiters.

Dr. Vasquez has become a believer and advocate of mind power after several fortuitous happenings in his life when things and people came and fit into his plans after he focused his mind on them.

He also believes that like-minded people with an affinity of interests gravitate toward each other.

“Like we did, he said. My son beamed total agreement.

Good heavens, do I hear more bells ringing in the future?


Doris Trinidad held editorial positions in Manila Times, Focus Magazine and Times Journal. Her last stint before retirement was as editor-in-chief of Woman”s Home Companion. She has four books of essays published and one of poetry. She contributes articles and poems to various publications.