Wake-uppers:
Seen: Dominic Villafuerte
is the newly-appointed councilor of Candijay town who replaced former councilor
Sergio Amora Jr who died last year.
Seen: Spotted in Bohol
last week were Michael V, Tom Taus and Katherine de Castro. Also spotted in
Panglao town were LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas and his wife Korina Sanchez and
Isabelle Daza who attended a VIP wedding.
 |
AWARD-WINNING
composer
and lyricist Ralph Maligro.
Contributed
Photo
|
Scene: During the 36th
Cebu Popular Music Festival, Ralph Maligro's “Awit Ning Gugma,” arranged by
Ralph Joey Cabusas and interpreted by Philip Mancol, emerged as the winning
piece in the Love Song category. Maligro is from Tubigon town.
Scene: The
"UNLIMITEXT" exhibit of multi-awarded Boholano visual and performance
artist Sam Penaso at Galleria Quattrocento,
2nd Floor Serendra, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig on Jan. 20 to Feb.
2. For info, text/call (02)-8230935;
0917-8911322. Penaso is a multi-disciplinary artist that dabbles in painting,
sculpture and performance art. He has held 23 solo exhibitions, five of which
were held in Japan, Thailand, Austria, Germany, Singapore, New York and Abu
Dhabi. He has also been a recipient of several Art grants including Asian
Cultural Council (ACC) and the International Studio and Curatorial Program in
New York and the Thailand-Philippines Art Exchange Program in Bangkok,
Thailand.
Scene: The United States Agency for International
Development (USAid) General Counsel John Simpkins was here in the province
on January 26-27 to renew the U.S. government’s
commitment to the province’s inclusive and sustainable development. Simpkins joined other Bohol officials to
launch the Stakeholders’ Forum, which was organized by the U.S. Embassy
Manila’s USAid through its Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with
Equity (Surge) Project. Simpkins visited Tagbilaran City Elementary School,
where he handed out learning materials to Grade 2 students on behalf of the
American people and led a reading activity for the children. In his interaction
with school administrators and faculty, he reiterated the U.S. government’s
commitment to help improve the reading skills of students through its basic
education program, Basa Pilipinas. Surge is the flagship activity of USAid’s
Cities Development Initiative (CDI), which aims to transform secondary cities
into engines of growth. Tagbilaran is one of the CDI partner cities.
* * *
Couple
Cipriano and Marcela Curay had to wake-up early last Wednesday. They had to travel at least 100 kms from
Alicia town to Tagbilaran, Bohol’s capital, to attend the 16th Ubi Festival. The Curays brought 20 bukags (baskets), inside were ubi (yam) they would sell during the
three-day festivity.
Ubi (Dioscorea alata) growers and supporters
have gathered last week for the Ubi
Festival to honor the crop as a major agricultural product.
 |
| Ubi Festival 2016 on National New. Courtesy: GMA News |
Curay,
53, started planting ubi in 2010. He
said he found ubi a great potential
for livelihood.
He
planted 50 kilos of ubi tubers in
July and harvested 650 kilos of ubi
in his 200 sq meters farmland last December.
For
the Curays, the rootcrop has helped their family needs.
“It
is a great help for our family. Like now we could not plant rice and ubi could
help us,” he said.
For
Dely Niluag, 68, the Ubi festival was an opportunity for her
to make special desserts-- ubi jam/halaya and sorbetes (ice-cream). Niluag
took advantage to choose different varieties of ubi --- kabus-ok, kinlot, balagon-on, binanag, tam-isan, apale,
iniling, lima-lima, kot, bot and kinampay,
the most aromatic ubi in the world ---
at low prices.
“I
am happy if there is ubi festival,” she said, “I can ask for a discount unlike
in malls.”
She
said there would be enough ubi
desserts this month.
Ubi is an important
rootcrop in Bohol province, the country’s ubi
capital.
The
crop is heavily planted in the towns of Alburqueque, Alicia, Antequera,
Baclayon, Corella, Cortes, Dauis, Dimiao, Garcia-Hernandez, Lila, Loay, Loon,
Mabini, Maribojoc, Panglao, Sikatuna, and Ubay.
It
is traditionally planted in May or June and harvested from December to January.
According
to Zenaida Darunday, a plant pathologist and keynote organizer of Ubi festival, ubi is a healthy energy source with important nutritional benefits.
"Ubi is an excellent source of vitamin A
(in the form of beta-carotene), a very good source of vitamin C and manganese,
and a good source of copper, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and iron.
When you take ubi, you won't be constipated," said Darunday.
The
kinampay, the queen of all ubi varieties, is a good source of
anthocyanin, a strong anti-oxidant, she added.
"Of
course, it's a good alternative for rice especially now that we are trying to
cut on rice consumption, ubi is a substitute. You can eat ubi without eating
rice. Compared to potato, it has more nutritional element."
Ubi is also good for
people who have hormonal imbalance and women who suffer menstrual cramps.
"It
has dioscorin and it is good for women with dysmenorrhea," said Darunday.
For
almost half a millennium, the ubi tuber has been venerated by the Boholanos.
Boholanos
considered ubi a "sacred"
crop. In fact, ubi is the only staple
food included in the Bohol hymn.
“Yes,
ubi is sacred in Bohol,” confirmed Darunday.
“Boholanos
kiss the ubi when it falls on the ground,” she added. She said that ubi culture is authentic because it started from the earth.
“It's
our culture because according to a legend there was a famine in Bohol.
Boholanos were able to stay alive because they found ubi when they were
scratching the ground because ubi survives during drought and famine. And when
they saw ubi, ‘praise the Lord' because it saved them from starvation. If ubi tuber falls, you have to kiss
it," said Darunday.
 |
UBI
GROWER Cipriano Curay
proudly shows his ubi
kinampay,
the queen of all ubi
varieties. Leo Udtohan/Chronicle
|
For
the past years, the production of ubi
has declined.
Darunday
said that people who are planting ubi
are aging.
Ireneo
Gabato, municipal agricultural officer of Sikatuna town, said that only few
farmers plant ubi. He said, only
three out of 10 barangays joined this year's festival.
To
encourage farmers to plant ubi, his
office provided materials (tuber) to farmers.
"It's
plant now, pay later. If they plant 20 kilos of ubi tuber, they would return 20
kilos of ubi to our office," he said.
The
Ubi festival was also a venue for
educational forum to increase farm production.
“I
hope this is an avenue to invite farmers and attract young people to plant more
ubi in Bohol,” she said, “Young people should be familiar with the importance
of ubi.”
She
also noted that climate change also affected the ubi production.
“One
of the reasons why the harvest of ubi in the province now is low is due to the
impact of climate change,” she said.
With
that we hope we can innovate technologies that ubi can still survive even with the change of the climate, added
Darunday.
Anyway,
the most popular way of cooking ubi is
to make it into ubi jam
(halaya). It is a sweet sticky jam-like
concoction that may be eaten by itself or as an ingredient in other deserts
like halo-halo.
Ubi Jam (Halaya) Recipe
Ingredients:
 |
MORE
USEFUL THAN RICE, Boholanos find time
to honor ubi (yam), the province's most important crop,
during the Ubi
Festival 2016. Leo Udtohan/Chronicle
|
1
kilo ubi (kinampay, baligonhon, etc) mashed or 2 packs
purple yam
2
cans condensed milk
1
can evaporated milk
1/2
cup butter
1/2
cup sugar (amount optional)
1/4
cup grated cheese
Cooking
Instructions:
1)
Cook ubi in boiling water until soft.
Peel and mash ubi until smooth in
texture. A blender can be used for a better result.
2)
In a big wok, melt butter or margarine. Place in the mashed ubi; pour the condensed milk and sugar
over it. Keep stirring on low heat for
at least 30 minutes or the until mixture is well blended.
3)
Add evaporated milk and continue mixing until well blended and thick. Stir
constantly to prevent sticking to the pan. Let cool and transfer into a large
greased tray or pans Sprinkle with grated cheese for extra flavor. Chill and
serve.
Yam!
Yam! Yam!
* * *
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