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PFV Community observes a traditional house cleansing ritual

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The belief in the supernatural is very prominent in the Filipino culture. Performing some house cleansing rituals come into play when, people are building houses or moving to a new house. Generally people do these to ward off evil spirits and other mystical entities. As a show of respect to traditional practices of Taclobanons, I have documented a seasoned ritual called “Padugo” or offering blood of an animal as a form of sacrifice at Pope Francis Village yesterday. The ritual was performed during the pre-concrete pouring for foundations of the first batch of rowhouse units.. It involves slitting of the throat of three white chickens and dripping the blood to the excavated holes before actual pouring of cement. This was performed by a folk healer who happened to be one of the community members of Pope Francis Village. According to traditional beliefs, this practice of taking the life of a sacrificed animal will prevent the evil forces from taking the life of workers or anyone conne...
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Losing sight of science, a peril to development?

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Ignorance of science is absolutely a peril to development. This was a buzzword from Dr. Kelvin S. Rodolfo, an Earth and Environmental Scientist who spoke in a forum organized by the Urban Poor Associates this morning regarding the impacts of the proposed 27.3 kilometers embankment project to be built from Tacloban City to Palo and Tanauan, Leyte. Having extensively worked on the field of geological sciences, disaster risks reduction and climate change studies, his technical inputs uncovered many unforeseen impacts of the tide embankment as the  engineering works take-off. In his lectures, he presented several cases of ground movements and observable environmental hazards associated with poorly planned protective infrastructure projects.  He emphasized  that any planned development that entails alteration of the existing ecosystem and massive displacement of communities should be science-informed, otherwise these will only create more disasters. Dr.Kelvin Rodolfo ...
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Community Enlivens Bayanihan Spirit

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Bayanihan or the outpouring cooperative spirit of Filipinos is traditionally exemplified when communities extend service to those in need without expecting anything in return. This is vividly captured in simple acts like lending a hand to someone carrying a heavy load,  helping an elderly cross the street or extending material or financial assistance to families affected by catastrophic events or disasters.  Even typhoon Yolanda survivors have their own ways of keeping the Bayanihan tradition alive. Community volunteers usually form part of additional workforce at Pope Francis Village. As members of the construction team, their volunteer service becomes their counterpart for the resettlement project.  Women volunteers assist in hauling of earth filling materials for the ongoing School Building construction. Amidst the sun's blazing heat, these volunteers worked all day as the school building project now gears up for the preparation of second floor slab....
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