Fire Safety Tips

Here are 15 fire safety tips brought to us by The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC).

1. Avoid electrical overloading.

2. Unplug all electrical appliances after every use.

3. Check all electrical installations regularly.

4. Check gas stoves and LPG tanks for leaks.

5. Keep children away from flammable liquids, lighters and matches.

6. Avoid smoking in bed.

7. Ensure you have a pre-fire plan at your residence or office.

 

8. Do not leave lighted mosquito coils unattended.

9. Always take extra precautions while cooking.

10. Never leave lighted candles unattended.

11. Do not throw lighted cigar or cigarette butts on dried leaves and garbage.

12. Strictly obey the no smoking signs.

13. Maintain proper housekeeping to eliminate fire hazards.

14. Check fire protection gadgets or devices of appliances and equipment regularly.

15. Be fire-safety conscious.

Women on the Rise

I bought this poster "Women on the Rise" at an art store in Manila for hanging at the hallway at Anselma House.   The same is on sale at the internet for $189.99.  The poster was done by David Allen, a commercial photographer based in San Francisco who covers performing arts, public relations and special events for the Bay Area and elsewhere. The subject has striking similarities with a famous 1932 black-and-white photograph.

Women on the Rise, Black & White Photo, by David Allen

The catchphrase “Women on the Rise” has been associated with women advocacy such as the, National Association of Women on the Rise,  Hard Hatted Women (HHW), Women On the Rise Telling Her Story (WORTH) and at North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).   

Hard Hatted Women began in 1979 when three women– a telephone repair technician, a steelworker and a truck driver, formed a support group for tradeswomen.  HHW created the Women on the Rise award to honor women who have broken down barriers and stereotypes who have helped to lead the way for other women through their exemplary service and excellence in a non traditional career.

Lunch atop a Skyscraper, 1932 photo, by Charles C. Ebetts.

"Lunch atop a Skyscraper"  was phtographed by Charles C. Ebetts during construction of the RCA Building (renamed as the GE Building in 1986) at Rockefeller Center in New York City, United States.  He took the picture on September 29, 1932 on the 69th floor of the RCA Building during the last months of construction,  It appeared in the Sunday photo supplement of the New York Herald Tribune on October 2. 

The Pandacan Railway Station

Pandacan Railway Station (aka Beata station) is a station on the South Main Line of the Philippine National Railways. The station is located on Padre Zamora (formerly Tomas Claudio) Street in Pandacan, Manila.  The station is accessible by jeepneys plying routes on Padre Zamora Street and Beata Street.  It is the fifth station southbound from Tutuban..

To see schedules to other stations, click photo.

The trip from Pandacan to Tutuban is about 15 minutes, schedule as follows:

06:12	09:12	12:42	17:12
06:42	09:42	13:42	17:42
07:12	10:12	14:42	18:12
07:42	10:42	15:42	18:42
08:12	11:12	16:12	19:12
08:42	11:42	16:42	19:42

Glorietta

Glorietta was originally a park surrounded by establishments in the Makati Commercial Centre. In the 1990s, Makati Commercial Center became Ayala Center and Glorietta  was converted into an indoor facility integrated to the other buildings.

Today, Glorietta is divided into five sections (Glorietta 1 to 5) with many shops and restaurants, movie houses, a gym, arcades and a large central activity centre at its heart often used to stage special events. Glorietta is integrated with the nearby Greenbelt Mall,  SM Makati, Rustan's Makati and The Landmark, an older department store.

What is the best way from Pandacan to Glorietta?

Take the PNR Commuter Express from the Pandacan Railway Station at Beata, and alight at Buendia Station. Walk towards Buendia Avenue and catch a bus going to Ayala Avenue. When you see Rustan's, you shout, "manong driver, para sa side"!

Miracles

By Jocelyn R. Uy

Aside from the miraculous healing among sick devotees and the protection the Holy Child had offered to Pandacan during the revolution, the Sto. Niño was also believed to have performed other wonders in the town.

 

When a massive fire struck near Pandacan in 1911, a priest placed the image on a church window facing the sea of flames. Suddenly, the wind changed its course, saving the town from what could have been a tragedy.

The image is also known to have averted an explosion after troops of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (Usaffe) supposedly ignited oil tanks in Pandacan before retreating to Bataan on Dec. 18, 1941. It also reportedly healed a boy named Mark of a threatened blindness in April 2002.

This old photo is reminiscent of a  legend of a store ownder who turned down a little boy buying puto seco asking for credit.  The puto seco factory at Calle Labores is a stone's throw from the church.  It closed sometime after the liberation of Manila from the Japanese occupation.  It became a billiard hall operated by Mr. Lozano and later became a sign painting shop and eventually demollished.  The legend  has been preserved in the nursery rhyme Sitsiritsit as follows:  “Santo Niño sa pandacan, Puto seco sa tindahan, Kung ayaw mong magpautang, Uubusin ka ng langgam.”

“[But] most often, the Sto. Niño comes to us as He is, a child in His way—unobtrusive, ordinary, simple, hidden in the guise of a little boy,” said Abaco.

He said residents often spot a curly-haired and dark-skinned boy, his plump face smeared with dirt, roaming the streets of Pandacan—recalling the wooden image caked in mud when it was found among the pandan reeds 300 years ago.

The boy, who frequents the church patio, is seen mingling with people and talks to them as if he knew what was going on in their lives. “Residents believe that this little child is their beloved patron, the Sto. Niño,” said Abaco.

Healing Water

The original stone chapel was destroyed by powerful earthquakes in the 1800s. The renovated structure and the well, which existed until the early years following World War II, had to be demolished because of the expansion of Jesus Street into a major road.

It was revived sometime between 1951 and 1971 when Msgr. Guillermo Mendoza was the parish priest.

Though parishioners continue to believe that the well is a source of healing water, the parish has advised them not to drink it after the water tested positive for impurities.

To avoid further contamination, Abaco had a replica of the well constructed in the inner part of the church property near the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, redirecting the flow of the water from the original spring.

The wooden image of the Sto. Niño remained enshrined in the stone chapel even after the church that took nearly 30 years to build was finished in 1760.

It was only transferred permanently to the church in 1906 when the church compound and the convent, taken over by revolutionary priests of the Iglesia Filipino Independiente (the Philippine Independent Church, more commonly known as the Aglipayan Church) in 1902, were legally reclaimed by the Archdiocese of Manila.

Plausible Explanation

According to Abaco, there could only be one plausible explanation for how the image ended up there: it may have been part of the cargo carried by a ship plying the galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico, during the Spanish colonial period.

A storm that often disturbs the Pacific Ocean may have sunk or destroyed the galleon, and the currents may have swept the image into the Pasig River leading to one of its arteries in Pandacan, which was then part of the parish of Sampaloc.

“The discovery of the little statue of Sto. Niño was only the start in the train of miraculous happenings,” Abaco wrote.

Over the years, some elders of Sampaloc attempted to transfer the image to their parish church following the discovery. But strangely, the image always found its way back, reappearing at the very site where it was discovered.

After this peculiar reappearance, residents began to revere the site, building a nipa hut to enshrine the miraculous image.  The water hole frequented by carabaos was eventually turned into a well, where a natural spring thrives to this day.

Eventually, the Franciscan friars and the townsfolk had a stone chapel built on the hallowed spot, also incorporating the well. This was finished in time for the formal creation of the parish of Pandacan in 1712, when the district was ecclesiastically separated from the Loreto Church of Sampaloc.