The Man with a Cane

THE MAN WITH A CANE. If this young man goes up the mountain and tire walking, he may improvise his sugarcane as a third-leg staff for support. When he gets hungry, he can use it as a food stuff too. That’s the versatility of the sugar cane – staff and stuff - in that order and not vice versa. You may laugh a little just to retain your modulation in saying “Hail to the SUGAR CANE!”

Clockwise in pictures: Young man with a Sugarcane, Turmeric, and dragon fruit produce of Calayan – including the young man with love as an additive.

Calayan used to be a producer of ‘basi’ (wine from sugarcane) contained in burnays (big earthen jars) way back when beers and gins are hard to come by and still unpopular in the island. The wine makers then have a free source of yeast, the ‘parek’ which is derived from the fruit (or flower) of the wild tree called “samak” which are used to make basi wine. The samak tree is still in abundance today in the mountains of Calayan. Local birds called ‘samut’ relish the fruit of this tree. When they have their fill, they get noisy. Sa yeast pa lang, nalalasing na!

Where have all the basi-wine makers of Calayan gone? Were they the relatives of the dwarves who were visible in the 50’s but disappeared in the 60’s? Calayan has a history of elves – yes your honors! Our late Lolo Enrique “Iking” Llopis passed funny elf stories to us which accordingly were based from their personal encounters with the little friendly halves.

But why don’t we see any more basi nowadays is the question. The culprit could be the commercial gins and/or brandys readily available on store shelves. Is it practical to go back to or revive basi wine making? I can’t say for now if it’s practical. All I know is that wine is good if taken in moderation.

Without the wooden press called “Dadapilan” (a simple machine of vertically positioned solid cylindrical hard wood with wooden gears operated by a carabao moving in a circular direction to squeeze the sugarcane juice), it may be a costly experiment to try this hardy pulp plant on the ‘bread mass machine’.

One surviving ‘dadapilan’ is said to be located at former Calayan Municipal Administrator Ms. Bella T. Llopis’ house now on display as an art collector’s item.

The Samak yeast may have been outdated, outmoded or outperformed by the pricey Canadian yeast. With a refractor priced at P26, 000.00 being used by a local bannayuyo wine maker to measure sugar, yeast and other ingredients for her wine-making business, the rest of the fold who estimate their formula by spoons may not fare well in the industry. With bannayuyo taking the limelight in the wine-making business and other fruits like mango, pineapple, banana among others filing their candidacy for the next wine show, the sugar cane may now be the Elvis Presley and the bannayuyo, the BTS of the music industry.

The original Elvis died as King of Rock and Roll. But then many Elvis look-alike, sound-alike (I’m not sure) emerged in Las Vegas including his costume, sunglasses and signature patilla. The basi could redeem its faded glory.

Just a few years ago, my Auntie Rosie Madayag Novencido of Baraoas, Naguilian, La Union sent me here in Calayan a long neck bottle of basi made from her own backyard with an added attraction – ginseng. Thank you Auntie.

Perhaps with a little chant here and a little canao there, the basi of Calayan may resurrect with a positive vengeance with the aura of La Union.

The Book of Genesis in the Bible KJV mentions ‘wine’ 12x; in Numbers, 8x; in Deuteronomy 13x; in Isaiah 20x. But I would like to share with you (the Letter of Saint Paul to the) Ephesians, Chapter 5:17-20 “¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  ¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  ¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; ²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

No wine translation could be found in the (Ilocano and) Tagalog versions which goes: “17Kaya't sinasabi ko ito at pinatototohanan sa Panginoon, na kayo'y hindi na dapat lumakad na gaya ng lakad ng mga Hentil, sa kawalang-saysay ng kanilang mga pag-iisip. 18Nagdilim ang kanilang mga pang-unawa, palibhasa'y nahiwalay sa buhay ng Diyos, dahil sa kanilang kamangmangan, dahil sa katigasan ng kanilang mga puso; 19sila'y naging manhid at ibinigay ang kanilang sarili sa kahalayan, sakim sa paggawa ng bawat uri ng karumihan. v20 Ngunit hindi sa gayong paraan ninyo natutunan si Cristo!

Fish - Lobster Prices in Calayan

FISH PRICES.  The PRICE MONITORING COUNCIL of Calayan, Cagayan DETERMINES and monitors the prices of marine products. This was my kumpadre, ex-SB Councilor friend Emilio S. Tan, Jr.’s long lost dream now revived in Calayan – to have a regulated marine products prices that would benefit the consumer and the fisherman. The blogger, SB Secretary of this Municipality has not yet received prices for agricultural products as of this writing, though. For lobsters and other fish varieties in the picture, as of today, July 30, 2018, here is the Price List for the following marine products: 

Clockwise:

No. 1] The ARAWA – the all blue Angel Fish look-alike is Seventy Pesos (P70.000) per kilo at the Community Fish Landing Center located at Banua, Poblacion, Calayan, Cagayan.

This fish is popular for ‘sweet and sour’ and ‘escabeche’. Let me exit from the kitchen as quickly as I can lest I’d be judged for my expertise in cooking purely and solely eggs.

Because I can’t even cook rice without burning it, one thing I may get a passing from my culinary arts teacher is make Arawa for kilawen. I’d have finely chopped ginger (better if powder form), finely chopped onions and a handful of crushed hot pepper. When will I put the lemon juice and Kikko ni Man? You see, I'm even confused in simple local 'sushi'.

If you are an environmentalist or naturalist, you may not touch this fish at all because it has a very significant role in the beach. They eat corrals and excrete fine white sand. That’s right sir/madam, this fish and its whole tribe are fine sand manufacturers. If you want to build a fine white sandy beach, make an aquarium full of this Calayan Angel Fish the size of Metro Manila.

No. 2.] The Dalagang Bukid sell for Ninety Pesos (P90.00) a kilo. Calayanos call the wide version (shown here) as Sirel ti Taaw – translated as ‘Sirel of the Deep’. The rounder and cheaper version is simply called “Sirel”; the smaller version "Tirong". Maybe the round ones are dumber - they cannot think and swim deep enough to claim the title. The Jopot Restaurant owner in Tuguegarao City (sometime in 1995) related how delicious this ‘Dalagang Bukid na Lapad’ is to my embarrassment because then I am totally ignorant of its name or taste yet I live in an island surrounded by fish of so many varieties that I can only name 5 out of the more than 30 varieties in the list of the Price Monitoring Council. So now, I am just trying to redeem myself but please don’t call me Ernie Baron Sir because I am not even worthy to untie his shoe.

It is just perplexing why the Tagalogs call this fish “Dalagang Bukid” for I cannot see any feature that warrants allusion to a lady of the field. Are all Sirels female therefore?

Oh! what a lonely feat

to live in the Isle of Crete;

when all you see from here and there

are but Dalagang Bukid!

No. 3] Lobsters sell for Three Hundred Twenty Pesos (P320.00) a kilo. Why do these sea creatures command such a high price when nobody likes them? Nobody likes to stop when they start eating them until the doctor comes to monitor their blood pressure.

No. 4] Bangbangan – at Seventy Pesos (P70.00) per kilo, this leathery fish has one thing to say “Taste me when I’m grilled or roasted.” With an exploded gall, I like the big liver though.

No 5] The Puffer Fish (aka Butete) is priceless. Now that’s ambiguous. The butete has no price in Calayan. NOBODY sells butete here because it is a dreaded fish. It is poisonous. Now, you understand why the only thing less is the price. In fact, it is zero.

You might think this puffer fish doesn’t look like a butete. It is a butete but only different by calling and shape. Local fishermen say there are different kinds of butete. Others call the one in the picture “Prasko”; others simply call it “butiti”. An invisible signage is written on one side of this fish which reads “Noli Me Tangere”. On the other side reads “Eat me if you can; if you err I’m not to blame.” It has claimed lives time and again but you are safe if you don’t eat it. Now you are asking yourself how I could read the signage when it is invisible. You’ll get what I mean in no time.

Despite its dreadful nature to be almost declared an outcast in Calayan, the Japanese made this a specialty in their country … and so that’s what they say. They make “sushi” butiti and only the monied and the adventurous will buy it. My friend Jo Ann in Japan says that only an expert in Japan can slaughter a butiti for sushi - one who graduated from a culinary arts school and use a special knife to butcher it. Other than that, no one would dare touch it.

You may buy this for free in Calayan. Asking someone to catch one for yourself would be a different story. So, Puffer fish the prasko variety, any one?

For the prices of other varieties of fish in Calayan like the Blue fins and Lapu-lapu, more on this on my next blog. Please feel free to share this. Thanks.

A Basket Full of Mushrooms + Ampalaya Leaves

A BASKET FULL OF NATIVE MUSHROOMS with Ampalaya leaves at the center. Clockwise from Top Right: Singapore Mango, Althea Layne Salvanera with Pomegranate, papaya, cacao and lemon - all grown and harvested in Calayan.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH through the Calayan Infirmary, Rural Health Unit and other LGU offices had, over the years, conducted information dissemination, nutrition related training programs and cookfests with the objective of attaining a healthier family through proper diet. In his speech this morning at the culminating activities of the Nutrition Month celebration, Dr. Pantaleon Pacis, our BTTB in Calayan, stressed the importance of having more fruits and vegetables on the table in order to win the battle against malnutrition. The parade of fruits and vegetables around Poblacion this morning by elementary pupils is a way of bringing into the psyche of every parent the awareness that the doctor wanted to impart.

Our Municipal Health Officer, Dr. Mark Colleen Calban, believes that no one can go hungry or mal-nourished if every household has its own backyard garden with veggies and other fruit bearing trees – which is not a far-fetched idea because no one is too poor to be deprived of a lot where he can plant green leafy vegetables or legumes. In an earlier interview with him at Spirit FM Calayan, Dr. Calban observed that from the less fortunate come the malnourished. While food rationing is one way of alleviating the abject condition of the poor, it is not a practical solution to the problem. Truly, every individual, rich or poor, should be guided by the saying “Give me a fish and I will eat for a day; teach me to fish and I will eat for a lifetime.”

Another plausible cause of malnutrition in Calayan could be traced to the real-life drama where parents sell their catch from the sea, mushrooms from the wild, the produce of their garden and the poultry to the town proper in exchange for bread, hotdogs, canned goods and noodles. Soda and chicheria are given to the children as pasalubong. Liquor is a regular part of the main dish and cigarettes for dessert from sunrise to sunset.

It's no wonder that an Ilonggo who once visited Calayan while we were at Banua beach said, "You are millionaires but you don't know what to do with your wealth." referring to lack of foresight or maybe technical know-how of the islanders in tapping the riches of the sea.

Some people today have not quite adjusted from the Galleon trade practices where early Filipinos exchange their Golden Salakot for a small box of unwashed ukay-ukay

Calayan Island is not only all Sand and Beaches

CALAYAN ISLAND IS NOT ALL SAND AND BEACHES. In fact, we have more clay than sandy beaches. That being the case, we should have more clay pots than seashells. We cannot however compete with the gargantuan sea shell manufacturers – The Pacific Ocean and the West Philippine Sea. These bodies of water nurture our reefs and corrals with a variety of bivalves, marine plants and animals including dolphins and Humpback whales. I was told that a giant clam shell is embedded in the mountainous region of Barangay Magsidel surrounded by clay soil. Everyone believes that no human muscle put it there. Could it be giants or kapres? The answer could only be a supposition similar to the phenomenon that put the Atlantis City beneath the sea. 

Others think we don’t have rice fields. The Tans, Dicans and some Llopises are rice exporters but their produce no longer reach the Americas because Filipinos consume them before crossing the high seas or that witty buyers had already kept them in their bodegas waiting for a better price.  Camiguin island, composed of three barangays - Balatubat, Minabel and Naguilian - is a rice and banana producer too. It is more famous for its wild honey but exporting this forest product stands no chance due to high demand in the locality and nearby Tuguegarao City.

Babuyan Claro (aka Kurug), an island barangay of Calayan has a volcano – active or not, I’ve yet to know. The people here are kind and peace-loving. They grow sweet watermelons. My friend Jo Ann who now lives in Japan could attest to the big sweet potatoes from this island barangay – thanks to its volcanic soil. Giant bamboo groves were found here although they are not necessarily endemic to the place. They have edible coconut crabs from the wild and capture is regulated by a barangay ordinance. The sidai of Kurug looks like a longan but its tree trunks are more huge and the fruits much sweeter. Their mound birds have the biggest eggs among the birds of fowl in Calayan. One piece equals two orange chicken eggs or still a little longer. Let us not compare it with the ostrich’s because that’s not a bird; it’s a giant. Okay, a giant bird. 

Others think we don’t have forests. That should change now because we would have no wild chickens, eagles, wild doves, wild pigs, and Galliralus Calayanesis aka Piding - the newly discovered rail (bird) of Calayan by Mr. Carl Olivares and his team in 2003 – if we have no thick forest. Our round tables and other wooden furniture mostly of narra hardwood were extracted from Calayan forest. However, felling narra and other hardwood species nowadays are under total log ban.  DENR conducted a seminar workshop in Calayan last April 2018 with the end of identifying the boundaries of the barangays and embarking on a Forest Land use Plan (FLUP) but is not yet complete. In conjunction with the seminar, the Barangay captains met that they may identify their respective forest parks – where they are not supposed to cut trees and where they may be tolerated to cut trees subject to further study and approval by the DENR. As of this writing though, no FLUP had been submitted to Calayan to serve as guide. With most of the barangay captains who attended the meeting no longer in the political scenario, the continuation of what the former had left behind leaves another question “When?”

What else grows in Calayan. Pictures in clockwise direction. Starting from top right is the Bannayuyo. Benefits: The plant can be trimmed for decorative purposes. One agriculture magazine mentioned of a rice farmer in the mountain provinces who converted his rice field into a Bannayuyo plantation (they have a variety different from ours though) because he found the Bannayuyo more lucrative than rice when he learned to make wine out of its ripe berries. In Calayan, a local Bannayuyo wine maker’s berries are harvested from the wild for no one had ever seriously planted Bannayuyo for commercial purposes. These are so easy to grow. Just roll the ripe blue or purple berries in your mouth, sip the juice and spew the seeds. If you spit 10 seeds on moist and fertile ground, twenty will grow divided by two – more or less.

There are claims of anti-cancer properties of the Bannayuyo which I am inclined to believe is true because black or blue or red berries have their own medicinal values. You can check the internet for berries’ properties. An architect of NAPOCOR from Metro Manila who visited Calayan last year heard of my Bannayuyo plants. He asked for some leaves that his mother may make a concoction of it and drink it as tea for medicine. Wow, that’s new. Bannayuyo tea, anyone? If you have this plant and value it, don’t get it near a goat. It’s a goat’s favorite. So if you intend to put up a Bannayuyo plantation for goats or sheep, for wine-making or for garden decoration, I leave it all up to you.

I have some seedlings at home to spare for free if you can dig the soil yourself. It's located in our residential lot in Poblacion, Calayan. A plus factor about the Bannayuyo is its resilience to being transplanted. While most plants wither at the moment you disturb their roots when transplanting seedlings, THE BANNAYUYO SEEMS TO LOVE BEING TOUCHED, (OR SHOULD I SAY MASSAGED) AND TRANSPLANTED. I have not seen any Bannayuyo wither when I transferred or transplanted them.

The next inset is the potted Japanese Malunggay. I grew it from cuttings. I won’t explain the virtues of the Malunggay for they are too long but let me include that this VARIETY IS SMOOTHER AND DOESN’T HAVE THE BITTER TASTE THAT OUR ORIGINAL MALUNGGAY HAVE, says our cook. You can find a lot of this veggie in Poblacion but honestly I haven’t tasted it yet.

The Third Inset is the potted Sidai from Babuyan Claro. I have described it earlier.

The Last inset is a Talipnongen tree from Barangay Dilam. I have no idea if it bears edible fruits. All I know is that this tree whose trunk seems to grow at a slow pace have awesome shade with less leaf debris and no invasive worms like that of the umbrella tree. Good for small gardens.

I could post more members of the plant kingdom with respect to what grows in Calayan. But my point is: Calayan is not all sand and beaches. It is an island with exotic wildlife of both plants and animals and people of mild - starting with letter 'm' not 'w' manners. Invaders and intruders had come and gone before. Thank God they didn’t last and harm our souls. God has a watchful and protective eye on those who obey His Word. He won’t let any place fall into the hands of would-be perpetrators or matadors, abusive pescadores or tiradors – for as long as He can count a significant number of people who still believe in Him and do His will in that place. More and more religious groups are becoming active in this island.