Pope Francis and My Letters to City Hall

 

As Pope Francis said, "A good Catholic meddles in politics offering the best of himself so that who govern can govern well."

So today, Ash Wednesday, I delivered an 11-page letter to the City Administrator of Victorias City to follow up on the things that I enumerated on my February 3, 2025 letter, and then to also raise some.😞

Sometimes, you need to remind the city officials to stay focused and not lose sight of what's important and what's being asked by the public they serve.😭

At times, I ask myself, "Why should I care?" I could have just gone along with my day where my biggest problem usually is: "What do I feel like having for merienda today? Or, should I have for lunch my lettuce-cucumber-tomato salad which I bathe with roasted sesame dressing and sprinkled with cheese and James Ham, then paired with Coke on ice?" (Yes, the latter is a question-slash-challenge because it takes me about ten minutes to prepare! And about 30 minutes to finish! Not to mention that by 3PM, I'd be starving again!)

But I do this because somebody has to speak up for the voiceless and for those who are afraid to speak up. (We are all aware that the word 'retaliation' is in most politicians' vocabulary).

And of course, I just love to write! Of the 11 pages, the five pages were just photographs, while the six were text that took me an afternoon to finish while sipping wintermelon milk tea with pearls.

Over the years, I must have written the various offices at City Hall a lot of letters, which should now be masterpieces in communication.

I have written letters to the Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Vice Mayor, the Sangguniang Panlungsod and a few councilors, the City Treasurer, the City Accountant, and the Committee on Anti-Red Tape! And those who are just local offices! I have to enumerate the national offices!

But here's the thing. We have to ask ourselves: where were you and what have you done when your fellow citizens needed you?

Well, I do not need to brag that I have joined volunteer groups in distributing relief goods way back in 2020 (read blog here) and during the floods of 2021. And for crying out loud, I have even organized my own community pantry in 2021 with the help of anonymous donors (read blog here) and a clean-up drive of the Malihaw River in 2022 (read blog here)! And I'm not even running for office!

I just hope that someday, when the future Victoriahanon judge us, the Victoriahanon of the present, they will be kind to us because we spoke up.

And when we finally stand in front of the Creator, we would have something to tell Him as to what we did with our time and what we did to help our brothers and sisters.

#popefrancis #goodgovernance #victoriascity #victoriaslgu #negrosoccidental #Philippines #DILG #publicservice #publicservants #concernedcitizens #civilsociety

Chicken Biryani, White Pasta, and The Freshest Ingredients @ Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices

(A weekend scene at the bulantihan in Victorias City)

In my Dongdaemun neighborhood in Seoul, I was lucky that the biggest fruit and vegetable market in northern Seoul was just five minutes from my apartment building. 

I always felt like a tourist when I walked around its interesting alleys. Not only could I buy the cheapest strawberries and bananas, which I turned into smoothies, their watermelons were sweet and seedless, too! How I always wanted to buy two watermelons every time but they were heavy! (Read blog here). 

I had to share my discoveries with my friends, so I toured them around the market and my neighborhood , and they shopped and enjoyed themselves as well. (Read blog here). 

And in my hometown of Victorias City, we also have a bulantihan, our own traditional market where you can find the cheapest variety of produce. This is where I usually go to buy papayas, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables (read blog here). 

It is always full of people during weekends when the vendors bring in produce from the north and south of the Negros island. This is why I patronize these vendors: to support the local farmers. This is what the Slow Food Movement also believes -- that food should be grown and bought locally (read blog here). 

And all these years of going to the bulantihan, I was able to write my story in an essay that won at the 2022 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards (read blog here). 

On Fermin Street in Barangay 5 of Victorias City, Negros Occidental, we found a restaurant where the owner uses ingredients that she grows herself.

One day, an hour before noon, we ventured into that part of the town to try the dishes of Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices whose menu includes Middle Eastern cuisine, pastas, fresh fruit juices, and vegetable dishes, and where ingredients used are grown at a farm in the highlands of Victorias City.

We tried her chicken biryani and white pasta, which were perfect to satisfy the curiosity of her customers -- curious as to what makes Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices unique and what sets it apart from other restaurants in Victorias City.

I, being a pasta-person, ordered White Pasta which was al dente and creamy, and herbs used were organic. I paired it with Purple Lemonade made from blue ternate and sweetened with pure honey from the highlands of Gawahon of Victorias City. 

Other than the White Pasta and Chicken Biryani, we also enjoyed the Fresh Vegetable with Croutons.😍

And to prove to the customers that Missy indeed grows her own herbs and spices, pots of young herbs sat on the tables, not only as displays, but could be picked and chewed on by curious customers like we did.

On our table was a pot of stevia rebaudiana, or commonly called stevia. It's also called candyleaf, sugarleaf, or sweetleaf because...it's sweet! It was my first time to chew on this leaf and was surprised it was indeed sweet!

                          (Purple Lemonade)

(The pot of stevia plant on our table)

A menu of healthy, yummy food and a variety of homegrown, organic herbs and spices -- these make Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices unique and a must-visit restaurant. For me, it's a must-return!😎

                                  * * * * *

This is the Facebook page of Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices:

https://www.facebook.com/Missykitchen01

#missystable #restaurant #middleeasternmenu #slowfood #slowfoodnegros #foodwriter

Victorias Milling Company History: Don Carlos L. Locsin, Doña Salud Montinola and Company

These two black-and-white photographs did not have any date or annotation. After examining, I realized that what was written at the back were the initials of the important people in the photographs: CMC, CLL, SM, MM, and DG. Opposite their initials was "1", which means the number of copies given to the people in the photograph.

After looking for answers, I was able to identify them:

CMC is Cornelio M. Consing

CLL is Carlos L. Locsin

SM is Salud Montinola

MM is Manuel Mendez

DG is Daniel Gustilo

The location was the golf club house of the Victorias Milling Company (VMC), and although there was no date, I assume this was in the 1960s.

Don Carlos L. Locsin was the chairman emeritus of VMC, while Mr. Mendez was its president.

The other three, Doña Salud Montinola, Mr. Consing, and Mr. Gustilo were hacienderos, who milled their sugarcane with VMC, which was the biggest sugar central at that time. (Read VMC history here). 

Doña Salud Montinola, who was the one managing the haciendas of her family, gained the respect of the sugar industry because Hacienda Dapdap, one of their haciendas, was named was one of the best producing haciendas in Negros island. (Read Chapter 24 here).

It would have been easy for me to conclude that this was a big business meeting. After all, the attendees were VMC officials and planters. But after examining the photograph where you could see Don Carlos and Doña Salud standing, at the end, you can see nuns seated at the table. I wondered if they were the Maryknoll Sisters who were managing Saint Joseph's Hospital in Manapla, and this was a meeting about the Hospital, or, if you can conclude further, the five were members of the board of trustees of the Hospital.

And if they were members of the board, why does it look like Doña Salud had an important role? She was a pharmacist, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in 1920, and was the 'Presidente de Centro de Puericultura de Victorias' in 1930. Yes, she was the president of the puericulture center of Victorias.

If indeed they were members of the board of trustees, it would have been interesting to listen to them as they discussed and made decisions that would affect the lives and welfare of the doctors, nurses, and the workers of the Hospital, and of course, of the patients as well.

As I have always said that black-and-white photographs tell the most colorful of stories as long as you know where and how to dig for those stories.

By the way, in 1931, it was Don Carlos L. Locsin who initiated the organization of the Philippine Association of Sugar Technologies in Bacolod and was elected its first ever president. This association was the forerunner of the Philippine Sugar Technologies Association of PHILSUTECH. An award was named in his honor; the award is given to a person who has outstanding contribution to the sugar industry.😋 

#VMC #victoriasmillingcompany #victoriaslgu #VictoriasCity #NegrosOcc #Philippines #history #historymatters #historian #sugar #sugarindustry #MaryKnoll #MaryknollSisters #PHILSUTECH