Giants don't mind bowing low

The news says that "Banana Morning Diet" is a craze in Japan. A craze? So they're literally going banana!

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Why don't we also copy this "Banana Morning Diet" of the Japanese? Needless to say, it's good for the health.

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But a banana plantation mogul in Mindanao says: "Good for the health, yes. But there's also wealth in that Japanese craze." He intends to plant more bananas and export more bananas to Japan.

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Bright idea, this. The banana mogul's idea if carried out full blast, could help prop up our sagging economy.

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It's no passé and corny even but this joke about sagging being the best banana in the world continues to make the rounds of coffeshops.

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My column on Banat News reporter Brenda Batuto's formula for staying young (Jan. 12) drew comments from many quarters, including friends known for their light but contagious humor.

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Dr. Edgar Pamintuan e-mail: "I had a good laugh. I have the same formula ... lying about my age until my wife told me, "Bisan unsaon nimo pamakak ... Ang mga uban moabot nas kilay mo," Ugh!

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Hilario Napilangao e-mailed: "Diha toy madre nagpunay'g pangutana sa akong edad. Naglagot ko. Ususerang madre, I said. When I told her I was 65, she said: 'Namakak ka no? Mora mag 50 ka pa,'" Hilario said: "Wa na ko maglagot."

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The Santo Niño solemn procession was held last Saturday. It was a procession that a religious procession should be. Solemn, peaceful, orderly. Everyone just walked, followed the carroza bearing the Holy Child, and praying as they did. So unlike the procession of the Black Nazarene in Manila.

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The Black Nazarene procession in Manila was held last Jan. 9. It was as riotous and as disorderly as it has always been. The devotees (some called them fanatics) were described in newsreports as "unruly" and "rowdy." They even disrupted the Mass being said in their effort to get to the image of the Black Nazarene to wipe their handkerchiefs on Him.

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Let me share with you this thought provoking text message I got from my friend and media colleague Ben Ypil:

"Have you observed a ricefield and noticed which heads are bent and which ones stand up straight? Well, the empty heads are standing tall and high. The heads that are filled with grains are bending low. Indeed, the true great and strong people are humble and gentle. True giants don't mind bowing low."

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