PARADOXICAL

Lessons from a Town Quiz Bee

I was recently tasked with making questions for a municipal-level quiz bee in time for National Tourism Month 2025. Since it was 'right up my alley' and definitely my idea of fun, I gladly took on the task because it was instant research work for me. For sure, it would answer a question that has been intriguing me: How much do today's schoolchildren know about their own town?

I've heard that history has been scrapped as a subject in secondary school and college, and I wonder whether the move was misguided or what. But I've known all along that local history and traditional culture are never taught at all in schools in any level, and it strikes me as odd. This ensures that residents, especially children, will never get to know about their own place except through daily contact with townmates and the kind of local media they consume in their own respective bubbles.

So, while formulating the line-up of questions for the easy, average, difficult, clincher, and tie-breaker rounds, I asked myself: "If you are a Bayambangueño/Bayambangueña, what are the things you ought to know about Bayambang?"

Basic things first, of course: Do you know anything about its history? Then when was it founded? Who founded it? What was the town originally called? Wasn't it part of a bigger town -- which town? Wasn't it a town that used to be this big -- which several towns now used to be a part of?

Do you know any of its earliest freedom-fighters? Who are the historical figures who set foot in this town and did something historical?

Now, on to basic geography. Do you know how many barangays comprise this town? Are you aware that it is further divided into a number of districts -- how many? Let's check your random knowledge: What is its northernmost barangay? Its southernmost? Did you know that you need to cross two other towns to get to this far-flung barangay? Crazy but true! What is this barangay called?

Let's take a look at some of the oddities. Did you know that there is a chapel in this barangay dedicated to, not saints, but to Adam and Eve and features an underground altar?

Let's move on to things that are quite unique to the town: What dance has been invented in this town? The town is considered to be the best maker of this fermented fish dish -- what is it? What other local delicacies do you know? How about the little, often-ignored arts and crafts and traditions that you should take pride in or at least be curious about?

What is the town's patron saint? When was its parish church founded by which religious order?

Which schools are the town's oldest? What years were these educational institutions established? What were they called back in the day?

Who are the some of the top educators who grew up in, or trace their lineage to, this town, and what were their contributions? Have you heard about this lady recognized as a national scientist who hailed from this town? Have you heard of this famous brand of local shoes made by someone from this town? Who is considered "the father of Philippine cycling"?

Are you updated on local current events? Do you know anything about the town's current leaders and their remarkable accomplishments? Have you heard about this farmer's app? Have you even heard about this old bridge named after this famous personage? Bayambang is known for what two Guinness world records? Did you know that the town now has a central terminal? An unlikely development: Did you know that it has a dairy farm? Where? A tertiary hospital? Where? A "prayer park"? Where is it located?

What is the name of the highest accolade the town bestows on its resident-achievers?

I was saddened to know that our participants know only a few of the things I thought they should know, but I was not surprised.

However, I am glad that, although most of the brightest kids in our town are unaware of the things they should be aware of, there are some kids who do. Maybe they truly know these things, or could it be that their teacher-coaches did their homework and were good at coaching? I am not sure.

Without proper knowledge, healthy pride in one's own roots is not possible, sources of inspiration are utterly lacking, and treating one's own town and people like dirt is normalized.

Main lesson from the quiz bee: Local history, local public libraries, local museums, local media, local publications, local-level preservation and promotion of history, culture, and arts... These are all essential to the life of a town and nation. Don't minimize, shrug off, and spit on these things, for that would be sociocultural suicide. That is why, like they say, invaders are essentially iconoclasts: they always attack and systematically destroy one's native culture first if they wish to eliminate an entire group of people or at least their sense of self.

Drat, how did I get there? It was, after all, just a frigging quiz bee!

posted by Resty Odon  # 2:06 PM 0 Comments

Shaky Month

October has become such a shaky month this early. My usual droll, even facetious, self would have said the Philippines is like Shakey's pizza and we are back to the late '80s dancing to "Shake, Body Dancer," but no, earthquakes are no laughing matter. It leaves us shaken, both literally and figuratively, and a strong one can be deadly.

While areas of Luzon were reeling from massive flood from the quick succession of typhoons ('Mirasol,' 'Nando,' 'Opong') together with the usual habagat (monsoon rains) that makes everything sopping-wet, a 6.9 earthquake shook up parts of Cebu Is. and another, far weaker one in the Taal Volcano area. The ancient church of Daanbantayan was in ruins, and the McDonald's Bogo City branch ended up like a crushed tomato. More than 70 people died including athletes practicing inside a gym or dome of sorts with one man pinned down, meeting misfortune in the twinkling of an eye.

The quake in Bogo was reportedly caused by a previously unidentified fault offshore connected to the Philippine trench.

The morning a day before that, our roosters at home crowed one after another nonstop for about four hours straight. It was unprecedented, something that struck me as abnormal, unusual, unprecedented (can't decide which word is better). What a curious coincidence, together with the sudden appearance of earthworms and centipedes here and there in our yard. Other residents' accounts echoed the same experience with their dogs, cats, cattle...

The next few days would prove the roosters and other creatures right, because an intensity 4.8 earthquake shook Baguio City and La Union and the next day an intensity 7.4 temblor would indeed shake the shore off Davao Oriental, then another one with an intensity of 6.7 or something struck exactly the same area. (I learned that earthquake intensities can be downgraded afterwards upon review.)

These earthquakes, of course, caused widespread anxiety, panic attacks, and trauma. (Being a constant sufferer of these maladies, even for a laughable intensity 1, mainly due to the ensuing reaction from equally panicky people, I feel that I am not too abnormal, after all.) Then there's, of course, the appalling destruction of public infrastructure, especially the sudden discovery of those built with subpar quality, and the sudden obliteration of private properties, especially those otherwise charming homes built out of decades of sacrifice of Filipino overseas workers -- all erased, or in journalese, "gone in a jiffy."

The omnipresence of CCTVs has magnified the documentation of these tremors and ensuing chaos and destruction.

I suddenly recall that, on October 2, a massive fire engulfed a district in Davao City and another fire broke out in CDO. Then I saw someone's post showing three rows of photos showing massive flooding in Luzon on top, earthquake destruction in the Visayas in the middle, and large-scale conflagration in Mindanao. How... inspiring.

Life is indeed such a frail, fragile, and fleeting thing: here today, gone tomorrow. Through these shaky shockers, may we all find some meaning, something profound, from deep within us.

And may everyone and everything that fell down from these puzzling tragedies get back up and rise up quickly, or soon, in every possible way.

As for those who sadly perished... Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

posted by Resty Odon  # 3:42 PM 0 Comments