BY: Kim Atienza
ONCE a year, people from Bibiclat, Aliaga, Nueva Ejica wake up early in the morning, go to the fields, cover themselves with dirt and dried leaves. They approximate the looks of someone they call the Taong Putik.
The celebration is what they call the “Pagsa-San Juan,” an event meant to remember St. John the Baptist, who, according to old folk, heard the prayers of the people of Nueja Ecija during the Japanese Occupation.
In 1944, a group of Japanese soldiers were killed by guerillas in Bibiclat. In retaliation, the Japanese forces executed farmers and civilians.
According to belief, the people prayed to St. John the Baptist to spare them. One hot day, rain suddenly poured hard without warning. The Japanese decided to spare them because they took this as a bad omen.
In their joy, the people of Bibiclat danced in the rain and waded in the mud. From that experience, the Taong Putik emerged every year on June 24, the feast day of John the Baptist, to celebrate their delivery from harm.
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How could 13 nails balance on top of one nail?
On “Matanglawin TV,” we showed that one should take a nail and lay it on a flat surface, then place the other 11 nails on top of it horizontally and alternately, with the last nail on top on the rest vertically.
From the intertwined nails, you take the ends of the vertically placed nails, lift it up, and place it on top of the standing nail.
The 13 nails are balanced because the standing nail supports the center of gravity of the intertwined nails.
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TRIVIA PA MORE (Various Sources):
Good seeds generally produce more yields under any condition. Grains produced from poor seeds are not only few; they produce low milling recovery due to mixtures of different grain shape, size and maturity.
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Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.
Ating tuklasin ang mga bagay-bagay na di n’yo pa alam. Walang ‘di susuungin, lahat aalamin. Ito po si Kuya Kim, Matanglawin, only here in TEMPO.