Titas de Bacolod

Friday, November 4, 2022

Friday, November 04, 2022

Roli's Napoleones : The Original Dessert Negrenses Have Loved Through The Years

Word has gotten around that a food festival showcasing Negrense food is happening at the Hidalgo Drive of the Rockwell Center in Makati, Metro Manila. Dubbed as the Namit Namit Food Festival, this gathering will perhaps be the very first time the Manila-based people of Negros Island, the sweet spot of the Philippines, will be celebrating their holiday known as Cinco de Noviembre in Metro Manila.

If there's one thing we all know Negrenses for, it's their passion for rolling out the best food for their guests to delight in. I'm sure that all the best inasals will be out, KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka), Kansi and other Negrense favorites. However, for this moment, I'm zooming in on what I've always maintained as the original dessert Negrenses have loved through the years - Napoleones from Roli's!

For those who haven't come across it yet, Napoleones is basically a mille-feuille (translated to "a thousand sheets"), layers of puff pastry with custard filling and topped with sugar glaze. It has been around that in the minds of the older Negrenses, there's only one name attached to it - Roli's.

Long before Negrenses capped their meals with chocolate cake and coffee, we were doing Napoleones with coffee. In those days people didn't care at all about their blood sugar and would have Napoleones with sweetened coffee. I personally liked the idea of drinking my coffee black, and munch on sweet Roli's Napoleones as a way to temper and balance out the flavors.

That's probably what I'll be doing again today as the Namit Namit Food Festival opens at 10am. I'm going to walk my dog to Rockwell and get the first box of Roli's Napoleones. Before I even bring the box(es) back home, I'm going to have an unsweetened Americano to go along with it in the park bench and savor all the happy times we enjoyed this delicacy with the family. Just like old times.

O te', dali na kamo sa Namit Namit.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Why you missed Winnie Monsod's column this weekend on the Inquirer digital edition

Issues, Manila

In case you missed it, the last time Winnie Monsod's opinion column appeared on the digital version of the Inquirer was June 11, 2022. That was about the Alternative assessment of Duterte admin (2)

Yesterday "Get Real" no longer appeared on the digital version of the Inquirer. Surprised that I didn't find it, I had t look for the hard copy of Inquirer for June 18, 2022. Lo and behold, Winnie's column was still there. That may be the last of it though.

I'll share with you what was on her column there.

Last Saturday, I received an email from Jullet Javellana, Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) associate publisher, informing me that my column, "Get Real" would be dis continued, citing that I am a board member of Rappler, "another news organization and therefore a direct competitor of the Inquir er, and that I have encouraged my readers to read Rappler. I quote: "In light of the clear conflict of interest between your position as columnist of the Inquirer and your advocacy for Rappler and membership in its Board, we are serving notice that we shall discontinue. your column, 'Get Real' effective July 1, 2022."

This reasoning intrigues me. For when I was invited to join the Inquirer more than 20 years ago by Mrs. Marixi R. Prieto (then its publisher). I was a columnist for the Business World (BW), writing a twice-weekly column. That did not stop Mrs. Prieto, however, nor obviously Letty Magsanoc, its late editor in chief. They published my "Get Real" column on Saturdays, while my BW columns came out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This arrangement lasted more than 10 years, until late 2010 or early 2011, when, for health reasons, I had to give up writing for BW.

Then, in 2018, when I accepted an invitation to join the board of Rappler, this was public knowledge. I consider it an honor, especially since it has been under siege by the Duterte administration-just as PDI was under siege by both the Duterte and Estrada administrations. The PDI case also merited my support and unstinting loyalty, as well as the support and loyalty of all who believe in the freedom and independence of the press. Thus, I saw Rappler as a comrade in arms to PDI and not a competitor. I assumed PDI management felt the same, since at no time from 2018 to the present did PDI management take issue with my involvement with, or advocacy of, Rappler's cause.

By the way, I never wrote a column for Rappler and do not have any financial interest in it, other than one share of stock to qualify for a board membership.

So Reader, we may ask: Why the sudden volte-face by PDI? And why, after more than 20 years of working together, does PDI not think that I rate a face-to-face discussion or a Zoom chat or a telephone chat, instead of an impersonal email? This is how we handled difficulties before. To be sure, Yam, from the Opinion Desk, called to try to explain, but it was cold comfort.

Thank you for your faithful readership. Now, on to a more pressing issue: Every one seems to assume that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be the next president. Hold your horses! It may be temporary. The Supreme Court still has to decide two cases against him: one, that he is not qualified to be a candidate, and another, that he is disqualified. A third case, still undecided by the Commission on Elections en banc (disclosure my husband is a legal counsel for petitioners), also for disqualification, will end up with the high court as well. The Comelec division should have decided on this case within 45 days (by its own rules). It took more than 6o days. The en banc, in the same manner, should have given its decision by May 10. It is now June 18.

Don't for a moment think, Reader, that the Supreme Court will just wash its hands off the cases, with a "vox popull, vox dei." Why? Because in 2016, the high court reversed its previous rulings, and I quote, "Suffice it to state that NO SUCH PRESUMPTION EXISTS IN ANY STATUTE OR PROCEDURAL RULE Besides, it is contrary to human experience that the electorate would have full knowledge of a public official's misdeeds..."

What are the case arguments? Simply put, Marcos Jr. is not qualified to be president because he isn't even a qualified voter (he was convicted), and he lied in his certificate of candidacy.

Marcos Jr. is disqualified because (1) he has committed a crime of moral turpitude by not filing his income tax returns for four years in a row, (2) he has been convicted of a crime for not filing nor paying his income taxes-his defense that, as a government official, the government already withholds his taxes only holds water when that is his only source of income. But, at 24, he was also chair of the Philcomsat board, with substantial honoraria/compensation.

Will the Supreme Court uphold the rule of law?

solita monsod@yahoo.com

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Sunday, February 27, 2022

The Ghost of Marcos Crony and Plunderer Roberto Benedicto Haunts Negros Island in 2022

Blog, Issues

BACOLOD CITY - When presidential aspirant, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. came into town last February 23, 2022, eyebrows were raised among Bacolod and Negros Occidental citizens as to who came out to support the son of the former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.

It was of no surprise that Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer was leading the party to welcome Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The dots are so easy to connect. Vice Governor Ferrer is the spouse of the Representative of Negros Occidental's 4th District, Hon. Juliet Marie "Yoyette" Ferrer, daughter of Philippine movie industry icon Kitchie Benedicto. Kitchie Benedicto was the daughter of former Philippine Ambassador Roberto S. Benedicto, who is known to have been Ferdinand Marcos' crony for cornering the proceeds of the sugar industry.

Under Martial Law, then President Marcos allowed Benedicto (known locally as "RSB") to take control of the Philippine Exchange Company (Philex), which monopolized the sugar planters' international trade. Benedicto used Philex to buy cheap sugar from local producers and sell it abroad for large profits, largely at the expense of the planters who in turn could not in turn pay back bank loans and wages of people in their farms.

The domino effect was that hunger was widespread in the countryside, breeding an insurgency and making Negros island a hotbed for local communist rebels.

These were the worst days of Negros after World War II and most Negros sugar planters remember how bitter those days were. Only most remember the bitter days of unrest and hunger in Negros because when Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. flew in last week, it seemed like quite a lot had forgotten their sorry state under the plunder of RSB.

Without having to name names, they were there. The ones who left for the US in the early 1980s as students or as young professionals to start a new life because there was hardly any future for them left in Bacolod. Today, having bounced back, living well, and retired or semi-retired in Bacolod, they are now throwing support behind Bong-Bong Marcos, oblivious to the agonies of their late parents who staunchly fought RSB and Marcos.

As if to spit on the graves of their deceased parents who hurt the most during the RSB years, the fresh local supporters came out in red and green in adulation of the dictator's son.

When one looks back, there will always be the supporters of the late President Marcos in Negros. Even back then under Marcos years, there were families who were loyal to Marcos up in the north and down in the south. No one forgets the infamy of the Escalante massacre in 1985. So yes, FM loyalists have their place in Negros. And yes, you have to give them some loyalty award for being there all throughout.

What puzzles though is the selective amnesia many have shown. It is one thing to support FM Jr. because you were there all along like your father was an Assemblyman during Marcos time and you had access to FM, getting some minor favors from the strongman along the way. But it is definitely another story, painfully hilarious, to see the ones shouting, "Sama Sama tayo Babangon Muli", knowing very wall that thirty six years ago, they were at the Bacolod Public Plaza chanting, "Tama Na! Sobra Na! Palitan Na!".

As it is, with a strong following, in Negros, you have to hand it to the supporters of the Uni-Team for having called up the ghost of the Marcos crony and plunderer Roberto S. Benedicto, as if to sneer on all who were victimized, "I'm baaaaack!".

This only prompts those on the other side of the fence, whether for Pacquiao, Lacson, Isko, or Leni, to fight harder as never before.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Friday, February 25, 2022

Remembering Nena - the Fighter for Causes

Negros, People

Found in one of the archives of The Visayan Daily Star. Excerpts from Ninfa R. Leonardia's farewell to Nena (Carolina) Lacson Garcia in 2015:

But Nena was also a fighter for causes. When the sugar industry was threatened during the days of the dictatorship, she was one of the most outspoken and blunt in her criticisms. At one time, the late sugar industry leader, Roberto S. Benedicto, set an interview with me and two other journalists from Bacolod, to be done in a TV station run by his company in Manila. It was about the current issues heating up between the industry leaders and local planters.

***

Nena was one of those who fed me with the most biting questions, and when I dared to ask them of RSB, knowing that all the planters in Negros were watching, she told me later that they clapped very hard for me. I asked her if they noted that my hands were shaking and my voice cracking, and she just laughed. “At least you got the point across,” she said. But good and loyal as she was as a friend, she could also be brutally frank when she is aggrieved and in the right. Even journalists who crossed her got their come-uppance.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Sunday, June 27, 2021

Dear Tita : Coping With My Anti-Vaxxer Friend

#deartita,

Received in my Facebook Page today as a message:

Dear Tita de Bacolod:

First off, this is quite funny. I am writing to you as if I were a young newlywed seeking advise from an auntie who has weathered the highs and lows of marriage for some kind of marital problem. In actuality, I may be older than you, Tita. In addition, this has nothing to do about marriage.

I am writing to you about how the world has changed because of technology and how what was meant to bring us together actually pulls us apart. I am referring to an incident which has taken place in our Viber group.

Years ago, us ladies were just so glad to be reunited through Viber in an old friends group. I can't even say this is a batch Viber group, just an old friends group chat. All was well until the pandemic. At first all of us were supportive and encouraging one another. Then as the months went by last year, some started losing their husbands due to COVID-19. This was long before there was any discussion about vaccines.

Then early this year, the vaccines started arriving in the Philippines. This was when all of a sudden, one of our friends in the Viber group suddenly took on a Jeckyl and Hyde personality. From the kind person we have known her to be, she has all of a sudden become an inconsiderate and rabid Anti-Vaxxer. Fed with all these YouTube links coming from her son, she keeps spamming the Viber group with conspiracy theories and unfounded statements to the dismay of the other group members.

Finally, most of us in the group knew that the tipping point had come when one morning, two of the three friends recently widowed left the group. I feel for them after hearing all these Anti-Vax statements when at the back of their minds, they could be thinking, "If only my husband were inoculated last year, maybe I wouldn't have lost him".

I understand our friend's position for being Anti-Vax and respect that. However, there is so much insensitivity in the way the Anti-Vax agenda is being pushed in the presence of friends who have lost dear ones, the rock of their families, the loves of their lives. Cause for our two friends to simply pull out from the Viber group for obvious reasons.

Our friend Helen (not her real name) still sends us YouTube videos without fail.

What would you do, Tita?

Stay Safe!

Mary

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Monday, June 14, 2021

LOOK : Three Grandmas Smoke Weed for the First Time

#titasinamerica, Blog

In case you haven't watched the video of the three ladies who smoked marijuana for the first time, you can check out the YouTube video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj66Vnye8qM

Washington state, where cannabis is legal, is now offering adults a relaxing new incentive for those who are anxious about getting the COVID-19 vaccine — marijuana joints.

The program, launched by the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board and named "Joints for Jabs," runs until July 12 and allows state-licensed dispensaries to give qualifying customers one pre-rolled joint at an in-store vaccination clinic.

Eligible participants must be 21 years old or older and have to have received their first or second dose during that visit.

This is only the latest among Washington's abundant vaccination incentives, which include free tickets to sports events and a lottery totaling up to $1 million. Just a few weeks ago, the Liquor and Cannabis Board announced an incentive that allows breweries, wineries, and restaurants to offer free drinks to vaccinated adults.

Washington's newest promotion reflects a multitude of unique vaccination incentives being offered across the country, and the state isn't the first to offer weed.

In exchange for proof of vaccination, an Arizona dispensary's "Snax for Vaxx" campaign provides free joints and edibles. In Washington, D.C., cannabis advocacy group D.C. Marijuana Justice distributed joints at vaccination sites on April 20.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Sunday, June 13, 2021

Hey Titas in Washington! Have a marijuana joint for taking the jab!

#titasinamerica, Blog

Uh-huh, we heard you! Some Titas de Bacolod based in the Seattle and Shoreline area have had a blast having two kinds of shots! The jab and the joint!

Washington state is offering adults a relaxing new incentive for those who are anxious about getting the COVID-19 vaccine — marijuana joints.

The program, launched by the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board and named "Joints for Jabs," runs until July 12 and allows state-licensed dispensaries to give qualifying customers one pre-rolled joint at an in-store vaccination clinic.

Eligible participants must be 21 years old or older and have to have received their first or second dose during that visit.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

Meet The Man Who Helped Marcos Bring Negros Island To Its Knees
Negros Island was in a woeful state at the eve of the snap elections in 1986. Negros as a word was synonymous to "Crisis" in those days. For the longest time, the sugar industry, romanticized by the well-heeled landowners of Negros and Iloilo, was the prima donna of Philippine ......Read More

How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Easily Spoiled

Monday, June 7, 2021

Monday, June 07, 2021

“B” IS FOR BANGKOK AND A BAD WORD

Blog, People

This gentleman goes to Bangkok to visit a jeweler. The shop is one of the many dazzling Alladin’s cave of scintillating delights that have beguiled many a tourist into this exotic Asian kingdom. As fate would have it, the gentleman had entered a particularly interesting shop and browsed through the display cases. At first glance, he could be mistaken for a local for he blended right in with his squarish jaw, Malay tan, thick straight jet black hair peppered with grey, and regular Asian build. His eyes are not narrow slits on his brown face, but are quite rounded only to have the outer corners betray his oriental origin with the sure upward strokes. The way he moves with ease around the shop tells an observer that he knows his way around. He has been here quite a number of times before.

Well, it so happened that also immersed in the colorful sea of gems was a tall, heavily-built gentleman on the wrong side of 40. His features, his bulk, and his imperious air reveal the European strain of his genes. He does not speak the kingdom’s language. It is safe to dismiss him as another foreigner, naturally. Of course.

The first gentleman had begun his study of the treasures before him. Was he in search of a particular stone? Or was he just going over the displays? No one really knew what was on his mind on that day. The other gentleman who was standing nearby was also engrossed in inspecting some stones. So, now, in that Bangkok shop are two men lost in their world.

However, like in any dream, the dreamer has to awake sometime and, in this case, the second gentleman had caused the first gentleman to snap to attention. The former had blurted out just two words one of which was succinct and sharp that incriminated him. In any court of law, his words would be considered as res gestae. He must have dropped an item and the action caused him enough alarm to shout, “Ay, bilat!” The first gentleman swung ‘round to face him with a puzzled knowing look on his brown face. “Bilat?” The first gentleman addressed the second. The latter saw that look of recognition on the first gentleman’s eyes, so, he asked, “Taga-Bacolod ka?” The reply was, “Oo.”

And there ends the story, ladies and gents, of how a word can connect two people in a foreign land and reveal much about their roots. One bad word was all it took.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

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Meet The Man Who Helped Marcos Bring Negros Island To Its Knees

Negros Island was in a woeful state at the eve of the snap elections in 1986. Negros as a word was synonymous to "Crisis" in those days. For the longest time, the sugar industry, romanticized by the well-heeled landowners of Negros and Iloilo, was the prima donna of Philippine ......Read More

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Saturday, March 06, 2021

Reposting from 2015 : The Little Boy With A Big Heart

People,

Warning : Do not read this without tissue paper or a handkerchief in your hand!

Throughout the last half of 2015 I have been thinking of how to put down in writing this incident which surely had to be chronicled. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Now, Christmas has arrived and has set the stage for me to tell the story.

I followed this from July 7 when I read it on Ricky Monfort's Facebook wall. On that day, Ricky posted that a tragedy had struck their family in the United States. His Tito Freddie and Tita Maryanne's family, including their grandchildren, were off to visit their Uncle Errol, one hour away from Seattle, Washington.

On the way, the rented van they were riding on was rear-ended and the crash seriously injured their 8-year-old grandson Owen. Despite several hours of trying to revive him, Owen did not make it.

As the 8-year-old Owen expired, his parents made the decision of donating his organs. Owen's heart and liver came in time for two needing recipients. It could be no less than a miracle for those who were to receive them.

In life, Owen was a boy with a big, big heart. Last year, while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, a St. Jude's Hospital commercial came on and his mother, Tami, made a comment that she needed to donate. Owen turned to his mom and asked, "How much are you going to donate, Mommy?". His mom said $20. Owen said, "I will donate $20 too"!

What a generous boy! Thus, it comes as no surprise that even in his passing, Owen gave of himself that others may live.

Owen's mom wrote this a few days after Owen's passing:

"No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside."

At 9:24pm on July 5th, our precious sweet beautiful boy Owen earned his wings and became an angel up in Heaven. Last night, we hugged and kissed him for the last time...until we meet again. To honor his kind, giving and generous soul, Harold and I made the difficult decision to donate his organs. Our amazing little hero saved 2 lives last night with his heart and liver. To save another family from feeling the pain and sadness that we feel is what we needed to start our healing journey.

We are overwhelmed and full of gratitude with the outpouring of love and support from our community. We appreciate all of your phone calls, texts, Facebook posts and messages. We are amazed at the generosity and selflessness of each and every one of you.

We are so proud of our son for everything that he has accomplished in his 8 years of life. We are so blessed and honored to have been chosen to be his parents. Our Gracie Goose, who came out of this tragic accident unscathed, has become such a brave little girl and our "saving grace."

Owen,
Mommy, Daddy and Gracie love you so very much. We will miss you like nobody could imagine. Rest in peace my sweet baby boy. Until we meet again...

This story was originally posted in December 23, 2015. Today, a little over five years after the original post and in the light of the current worldwide pandemic, Owen still speaks to us. May the example of Owen prod us to be generous in these challenging times!

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod