A Business Graduate's Random Blog on History and Gossip

Taiwan Insight  I wrote about Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan . Another article I wrote was about  linking Taiwan aborigines and Filipino aborigines . I visited the Taiwan Insight website and found an interesting article about revitalizing indigenous weaving . This would be an interesting thing when Ifugaos are now going to Taiwan to find new ways of indigenous weaving: Seeking Alternatives through Overseas Experience Through weaving revitalisation, traditional textiles become part of the cultural identity of these Indigenous peoples. More young Indigenous people appreciate their weaving culture and want to learn weaving techniques. However, it is strenuous to weave consistently as a weaver. Weaving is considered to be a highly labour-intensive task. Traditional weaving tools cause health problems, including backache, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and impaired eyesight. In addition, it is hard to find a tutor to teach weaving due to the declining number of weavers and the continuo...

In my random informal study of indigenous tribes, I want to further learn more about the different indigenous tribes of Taiwan  where I seek to trace them to the Philippines . Another tribe is known as the Taroko tribe in Taiwan. There's the Taroko National Park which may remind Filipinos of places like the Mountain Province in Nueva Ecija. There's the Out-of-Taiwan theory which says many of the Filipino natives came from Taiwan. The travels of the Austronesians aren't so easy to trace. The song in the video is called 太魯閣之戀 (Tài lǔ gé zhī liàn) meaning Love of Taroko in English. The song mixes Mandarin and the Taroko language.  I find the song to be rather enchanting. The beats would feel similar to Filipino indigenous dances. A post I wrote compared Filipino aborigine songs with Taiwanese aborigine songs . The song uses some very indigenous language like li mei su la yo. I think la yo here is spelled as layo. Layo is also a word that appears in several Filipino languages...

I could remember writing about the seven words that all mean Mandarin . There was confusion about what Mandarin was in Chinese. The Chinese language subject is often referred to as 华语 (huá yǔ) which was referred to as hua gu in Hokkien. Hokkien Chinese may have used the word lan nang to literally mean "our people". Today, the ethnic Chinese not in China are 华人 (huá rén) or hua lang in Hokkien. Personally, I want to refer to myself as a hua lang than a lan nang. Now, the meaning of Mandarin does have a European origin. As languages evolve and get accepted, it's no surprise that the word Mandarin isn't of Chinese origin. Instead, The Atlantic offers this insight into the origin of the word Mandarin: This one word encapsulates an entire colonial history. In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers were among the first Europeans to reach China. Traders and missionaries followed, settling into Macau on land leased from China’s Ming dynasty rulers. The Portuguese called the ...

  May 5, 1999, was when Cebu City's trial of the decade supposedly ended. There was massive panic when two days after the Chiong sisters, Jacqueline and Marijoy went missing,; a body was found in the ravine of Carcar. Some doubt that the body was really the late Marijoy Jimenea Chiong. In my opinion, the body was hers since nobody has claimed the body. I would like to blog on what I'd call the mistrial of the decade in Cebu City. Although the late Judge Martin Ocampo may be gone, what he did was definitely highlighted in the documentary Give Up Tomorrow . After writing a review of Give Up Tomorrow --I feel the story is far from over as the seven wrongfully tagged suspects continue to remain in the guilty status. It's hard to believe that  Francisco Juan Gonzalez Larrañaga aka Paco  was innocent. I could remember dropping my jaw, doing some Internet research,  and finding the documentary Give Up Tomorrow . The judge himself was described by Mrs. Mimi Larrañaga-Sy...

Did you know Buddhism came from India instead of China? Notice the names in Buddhism such as Avalokitesvara, Samantabhadra, Ksitigarbha, and Manjushri, and the founder's name is Siddhartha Gautama. Those are obviously very Indian names, aren't they? Yet, it seems that Buddhism has left Indian culture behind in India. In Hinduism, Gautama Buddha is considered one of Vishnu's ten avatars. A TV series known as Buddha by ZEE TV was created. The cast met with the 14th Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Rinpoche, who is often nicknamed the Buddhist Pope. The TV series was also dubbed in Mandarin. Yet, what amazes me is that Buddhists tend to abandon Indian culture behind.  The very evidence can be seen in how Buddhist temples are designed by Chinese Buddhists. Rather than designing them like Hindu temples--they're designed to look like Taoist temples. I find it not surprising how many Taoist temples in Cebu are mistakenly labeled as Buddhist temples. Some tend to think that Buddhism and Taoi...

The News Lens International Edition The names of Taiwanese indigenous tribes can prove the links with Malaysians, Indonesians, and Filipinos. This proves that brown skin isn't unique to the Filipino ethnicity but to a lot of Southeast Asians. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) would give this list of officially Taiwanese indigenous tribes :  The officially recognized Indigenous population of Taiwan numbers 580,758 people, or 2.48% of the total population. Sixteen distinct Indigenous Peoples are officially recognized: the Amis (also Pangcah), Atayal (also Tayal), Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq, Thao, Truku, Tsou, and Tao (also Yamei). In 2014, the Kanakanavu, and Hla'alua were added. Ten lowland Indigenous Peoples’ groups (Pingpu) are not recognized as such by the government and hence are not extended the same rights as the 16 recognized groups and excluded from the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) policies and programmes...

This would be another good video to watch. I was watching the struggles of indigenous tribes in Taiwan. There's a stereotype of indigenous people not just in the Philippines but also in rest of Asia. Featured in this video is Yukan Hayung--an indigenous student in Taiwan from the Atayal tribe. Here we see Hayung speak in both Atayal and Taiwanese.  I really have a fondness for researching more of Southeast Asia. The indigenous people in Taiwan and the Philippines do share a lot of things in common. The same kind of outfits, dances, and food would really tell you that the Philippines isn't so unique.  This makes me think about what future would indigenous Filipinos have in the protectionist Philippines? Taiwan's democratic, FDI-friendly country has given more chances to get awareness of their aboriginal tribes. Try watching this video and learn more about how Taiwan's FDI-friendly country may have given Taiwanese aborigines a better chance than Filipino aborigines. 

  I did write about how Taiwan's aborigines and the Philippines' aborigines have a common ancestry . I did some Youtube search and found this song. Unlike the songs such as "高山青 (read in pinyin as Gāo Shān Qīng)" which mixes Taiwanese Mandarin with aboriginal language, the song is purely in aborigine language. Words like "hinnayoin hayyohayyan" (and the Chinese hanyu pinyin never matches) can't be found in the Chinese dictionary. It's not surprising that after I did research on similar dances , Taiwanese aborigine songs can be similar to Ifugao songs. Similar costumes, similar dances, and not surprisingly, the songs may sound similar. Here's a song titled "In Maliyah Hi Bale Yu" from the Ifugaos. You may notice the tunes and words may be quite similar. This is an Ifugao love song. Honestly, I wish I understood what was spoken.  Here's an Ami tribe song from Taiwan called, "Milalaliu Gami". I think the word "gami...

  I was looking at the Facebook page  We Are Millennials . It's amazing, really, how these fools have been posting their content. This time, I'd like to blog about their gossip about sim card registration. Mind you,  the comments section where I got the photo from above  there can be  so toxic  so comment and argue with caution. That's why I'm hesitant to allow commenting here because, man, commenting can be  so toxic . It's one thing to comment giving constructive criticism. However, I'm afraid more people today are so into derailing others instead of helping them. It's one thing to say that SIM card registration will totally delete scams. It's another thing to say it will help minimize them. They say that it's useless because of the selling of pre-registered sims . If you know it's too good to be true--it should be considered a scam . The idea of the sim being registered with a valid ID to which can make it easier to trace identity fraud.  If W...

No, the girls below are not the same people above. Granted, I never saw Give Up Tomorrow nor realize that Juan Francisco G. Larrañaga aka Paco was innocent  until 2018. I was shocked to realize, from a friend, that he was with Paco on the night of the crime. From the New Scientist website, it talks about how innocents die without DNA tests . Hubert Jeffry P. Webb's life was wasted because of one foolish judge's decision not to grant a DNA test of the semen sample found in the late Carmela Vizconde's body. Here's a very interesting excerpt that points out the conspiracy theory that either one (or both) of the Chiong sisters may still be alive: Conspiracy theories surround the case. A policeman who worked on the case said last week he thought Larrañaga was innocent. Only one body was found, which was identified as Marijoy’s, but there are serious doubts about whether it is in fact her – even from the original trial judge . What’s more, there are rumours that one or both s...

April 9 (tomorrow) is a holiday but it's a commemoration of a loss during the Second World War. The Second World War brought about a cheerless Christmas than Odette ever did. It's been some time since I studied history and this blog is just a random history blog. I would like to give my reaction to the brutal Bataan Death March. This was when Japan used to be the Empire of Japan, an enemy of the Philippines, all before Modern Japan. The Japanese Empire deserved to crumble after its atrocities. Today, the Philippines is allied with the former AXIS forces of Germany, Japan, and Italy.  I searched on The History Channel to find some information on the Fall of Bataan . The details can be very gruesome. The very description of how the tragedy started isn't very pretty. The surrendered Filipinos and Americans soon were rounded up by the Japanese in April 1942 and forced to march some 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The men we...