INTERVIEW ON PINOYAPACHE, LAST PART

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONNAIRES FROM A B.S. EDUCATION STUDENT AS A REQUIREMENT FOR STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILLIMAN, QUEZON CITY.  SEPTEMBER 6, 2013.

1.     Do you think bushcraft is applicable in this age of instant gratification and package tour mentality?

Everything is possible with capitalists and amateurs.  However, in bushcraft, instant gratification absorbs very deep to an individual and, once learned by heart, will become his/her way of life.

2.     Do you think BMC (Basic Mountaineering Course) needs to be updated to include bushcraft?

Not necessarily.  The BMC introduced by the University of the Philippines Mountaineers had been very valuable in educating many generations of mountaineers, backpackers and other outdoor enthusiasts where it had increased safety, organized better the process of climbing and had given the satisfaction of freedom to the individual.  If bushcraft is to be included, it has to wait for the proper timing when an individual needs to upgrade himself/herself to teach same with survival skills and that means learning it outside the scope of BMC.

3.     Is bushcraft for everyone or it requires a special kind of attitude for you to become a good bushcrafter?

It is for everyone.  You may find it awkward at first but when you had made your first wooden spoon or created a fire by friction, you will begin to understand what is self-reliance is all about and you begin to notice that your backpack becomes lighter and lighter everytime you take a bush hike because what you carried before are now found inside your head.  The challenge there is to visit the outdoors with as minimal gears as possible and adapt with nature.

4.     What makes you an effective leader?

I just do what my heart lead me to.  It is a combination of experience, a youthful exuberance, good planning, timely judgments, endurance, a thankful spirit and adherence to the Almighty.

5.     What is your most successful accomplishment?

If you meant my 15 minutes of fame, it is the time I arrested a serial killer in a place I hardly knew, almost by my own lonesome self, which placed that feat in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 10, 1995 and a documentary in ABS-CBN’s Magandang Gabi Bayan.  Promoting bushcraft and survival among outdoorsmen and other individuals as a better, but cheaper, alternative to enjoy the outdoors in the Philippines is a feat in itself, considering that we have a community of outdoorsmen with closed minds with own personal agenda among themselves.  But my most meaningful accomplishment is my charity activities for children in the highlands of Cebu that inspired many clubs and individuals here to replicate it and make it as one of their activities.

6.     What are your greatest weaknesses?

Too trustful.  Too kind.  Impatience.  Doing things at the last minute.  Too daring.        

7.     Name some situations in which a leader may fail.  Tell me about a time when you failed as a leader.

When the very people who placed you to lead begin to question your motives and decisions.  It was during my incumbency as president of my former club when the old pillars used LNT as basis to censure me when they ran out of reasons to back me up the wall.       

8.     What methods have you used to gain commitment from your colleagues from different fields?

Treat them each as a very special individual.

9.     All leaders have to deal with conflict situations.  Describe a recent disagreement or conflict you personally had to handle.

When some Camp Red members became embroiled with people of another forum, I have to stamp on my authority to stop their visits and interactions to that site because, by their very actions, they placed Camp Red in a bad light.

10.  What are your career goals, short term and long term?

I would like to shorten my time with the corporate world and concentrate more on Snakehawk Wilderness School or with Warrior Pilgrimage.  By that time, I would be with the outdoors all the time and, possibly, tour the country and, hopefully, the rest of Asia, as a wilderness survival lecturer.

11.  What are the most important values and ethics you demonstrate as a leader?

Courage.  Stamina.  Compassion.  Wisdom.  These are the only virtues which a warrior need and it is still applicable in these present times.      

12.  Tell me who you would like to emulate.  Why?

Sir Ranulph Fiennes.  He is a modern-day explorer who, despite his age, had overcome extremely difficult expeditions and adversities in life.  I have read his autobiography – Bad, Mad and Dangerous to Know – and I begin to learn his style of leadership and the manner by which he carried out his expeditions.  He is a class by himself and I am quite delighted by the way he planned his journeys.  

13.  What do you dream for the Philippines?

I would like to see a Philippines that is not afraid of external threats and could define its course of economic independence free of the shackles of its colonial past.  I would also like a Philippines led by worthy statesmen instead of politicians who were voted for office because of money (ex. Pork barrel) and other perks that comes with their positions.

14.  Is there anything that you would like to share that was never asked from the questions above?

Just one: Why did I name my blog as Warrior Pilgrimage?

A warrior on pilgrimage is a lethal warrior; offering his best skills against an adversary by test of arms, strength, will and cunning.  A warrior after a pilgrimage is a changed man; he finds grace in defeat and compassion in victory and wisdom in between.  It is a path taken by just a few and that is the essence why I name it as such.  I have once been on that path long ago and it had given me inner peace and insight that I have not had before.  A warrior-style pilgrimage can now be adopted in real life in whatever circumstance (minus the tools of conflict and warfare) to gain acceptance and understanding of yourself, of people, of community, of life.

INTERVIEW ON PINOYAPACHE, PART 2

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONNAIRES FROM A B.S. EDUCATION STUDENT AS A REQUIREMENT FOR STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILLIMAN, QUEZON CITY.  SEPTEMBER 6, 2013.

1.     What professional development topics interest you?  What are your plans for professional growth?

Business!  If I could make something worthwhile about bushcraft and survival then I could concentrate more on this.     

2.     Describe the teaching techniques or strategies that are most effective for you.

Students taking notes or the teacher walking the talk.

3.     Describe a time when a lesson was not going well.  What did you do about it?

I know when a lesson is not going well when I ran out of ideas to explain certain aspects.  I let others participate instead and let them express their own knowledge and know-how and that saves me an awkward situation.

4.     How have you influenced Wil Rhys-Davies to follow your strategic vision for the organization (Camp Red)?  How did he influence you?

Bought him two bottles of beer.  Seriously, Rhys-Davies is a very intelligent dork and a well-traveled pirate.  He and Thomas Moore influenced me to shift to bushcraft and survival when they learned that the Philippines, most notably Cebu, have a dearth of people who can teach primitive-living crafts in a non-commercial manner.  Although both learned from the Aetas, they wanted to learn more skills from other parts of this country.  It was a timely meeting since I, at that time, wanted to enjoy the outdoors better instead of just climbing peaks and hiking trails.  I believed, I have outgrown my relevance to mainstream outdoor activities and needed something to shift my paradigm.  On the other hand, Rhys-Davies is trying to steal me away from Camp Red and confine all my teachings with Snakehawk Wilderness School only.  I just let myself go with the flow but I will never abandon Camp Red and I would sneak in to conduct free activities with them anytime.

5.     What was the most significant change you brought about in an organization?

Make it different from the rest.  Provide members some sort of a badge of honor; an identity that is truly their own.  Conduct consistent outdoors seminars and activities on different topics which were not taught before.

6.     Is there a specific leadership style that you’re using?  If yes, what is it?  If you’re using multiple styles, please enumerate and tell me the advantage of those for you.

I do not really have a specific template of leadership style and prefer not to know any of it or speak about it.  It is just second nature to me or my being a senior citizen has to do with it. 

7.     Describe an outstanding leader.  What makes you one?

An outstanding leader is one who would create dynamism among his community which then creates opportunities for other individuals to excel and take off from where he/she started.  I do not think that I am an outstanding leader although I believe I am some kind of leader but not outstanding.

8.     How do you define bushcraft?

Bushcraft is a definition coined by Mors Kochanski about surviving and living in the backwoods.  It is just another term to either mean survivalcraft, primitive-living techniques or wilderness skills.  As far as I know, bushcraft is survival in the wilderness on a long term; a way of life which our indigenous brothers are masters of.  

9.     What is Camp Red (aside from the information that can be found in the Internet)?  What inspired you to form Camp Red?

Camp Red is really an alternative vehicle to enjoy the outdoors using bushcraft and survival as the means.  It is a guild of artisans and craftsmen and a repository of woodlore and traditional crafts.    

10.  How did you learn your wilderness skills?

Mostly, it was from my late grandfather; the rest, from experiential education. 

11.  What are your plans for Philippine bushcraft?

When I started the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp in 2011, I aim to make it as an annual event.  The purpose of the PIBC is to divert people from the sickness of mass climbs done every June 12th and to teach the uninitiated about the rudiments of bushcraft and survival.  It is just confined to a certain fixed date with Cebu as the host but I am open to do it elsewhere and not necessarily replicating the event in itself just like I did to individual members of a new mountaineering federation in Luzon last October 2012.  Likewise, I also organized another bushcraft camp which is different in structure from the PIBC and will be a forerunner of an international event soon.  I want to place the Philippines in the world map as a bushcraft and survival destination.

12.  What do you see in the bushcrafters of today?

Presently, bushcraft practiced by non-indigenous Philippine population are confined only to true-blue hobbyists who are really very few in number and I consider them as precious jewels.  These few individuals may or may not be the core of Philippine bushcraft but I see this number gaining every year, thanks in part to the advent of social networking sites.  

13.  Is bushcraft a lost art or a dying art?

Neither.  It is inherent in us native peoples yet we refused to acknowledge it because we now rely so much on technology and grew on the trappings of Western-style education and methods that make it irrelevant yet Westerners wanted to learn more of it which becomes an irony in itself.  The timely setting up of the PIBC allowed that bushcraft is indeed a skill that needs to be re-learned by this present generation.

14.  How do you see bushcraft in the Philippines 10 to 15 years?  Will it prosper like mountaineering?

Bushcraft has been here for so long before mountaineering became an interest started by Europe’s nobility and landed gentry in the 19th century.  Prehistoric people had been practicing survival skills side by side with mountaineering (when it was not yet known by this term), during migration or flight.  Bushcraft will move on its own pace in the Philippines according to the sum/quality of their activities.      

15.  What do you think about LNT (Leave No Trace)?  In your opinion, where would LNT and bushcraft meet?

The spirit behind the 7 Principles of LNT is good and should be taught to anybody who wanted to enjoy the outdoors, even us bushcrafters.  Sadly, some mountaineering clubs and individuals interpret it verbatim and even make LNT as a rule instead of as a guide, which was not what was in the minds of the originators had intended it to be.  Besides that, what is applicable in temperate zones will sound hyperbolic in the tropics and quite absurd when you are on survival mode.  It is not LNT that bushcrafters have an aversion to but the very people who interpret it.

INTERVIEW ON PINOYAPACHE, PART 1

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONNAIRES FROM A B.S. EDUCATION STUDENT AS A REQUIREMENT FOR STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILLIMAN, QUEZON CITY.  SEPTEMBER 6, 2013. 

 

1.     How would you describe yourself as an individual, and as a leader?

I am really a shy person and would like to do things away from the limelight if that would only be possible.  I know I would sound like a hypocrite here considering that I bask myself in the glare of Facebook updates.  I wished I could turn it off but I have a personal mission. My being shy does not mean I am aloof but it grooves more of my being a very independent person; doing things my own way by my lonesome self, risks included.  Yes, I am comfortable working alone and I have proven that many times in the past as a solo operator.   

As a leader, I have my own faults.  I am human and subject to social and environmental interference.  I would rather watch from the sidelines than leading people.  On that manner, I could ascertain my own path for my upkeep.

2.    How would you describe Cebu City as your birthplace and as your playground?

Cebu City is just a small place sharing the biggest plain of an island with two other cities.  It has four creeks draining to the Mactan Channel, one of which is my childhood playground.  It has all the amenities and conveniences that you would likely find in Metro Manila, only you could secure or reach it in less travel time or even walk it in between.  It is protected from the east by Mactan Island and from the west by the Babag Mountain Range and from the north and south and above its air space, by our beloved Señor Santo Niño.  We speak Cebuano, of course, but the original residents here would rather read newspapers and watch movies in English.  The city had lost most of its character brought on by brisk business activity and the influx of tourists and people from other provinces which made it more crowded, polluted, increased index crimes and what have you that are also common in Manila and other big cities of this country.          

3.    What memory can you share about your childhood and your basic education?

Early in my life, I was doted on by my grandparents and became so close to them as if I am living separate from the rest of my family although we all live in the same house.  I have literally been in a school of hard knocks during my elementary and a day would not pass without bruises, black eyes and head bumps.  During that time, I have learned to earn my own money by my own wits when asking it was too taxing for my parents and elders since their values ran contrary to what tantamount to as begging.  In my freshman year in a Catholic high school, I am a weekly visitor in the principal’s office due to disciplinary actions and I was kicked out after my third year when the friars thought I am a very subversive youth.

4.    Why did you take up BS Commerce, Computer Science and Vocational Courses?  Are they your interest?  Who or what influenced you to enroll in the mentioned courses?

I shift to Commerce because I thought it is easy than Engineering but my preference to be always with my peers caused me to drop out and I was forced to take up vocational courses instead to appease my father and to keep me busy for four years.  Later, I took up Computer Science when I was in the police force for my career advancement.  If I had not taken subjects in Computer Science I would have been a dinosaur until now.   

5.    Describe your fears as you begin your first job?

The only fear I had felt then was that if my employer would discover my true age and that was the time when I was hired as a warehouse helper in a big national supermarket chain in 1980 because I was 17 then and I passed myself off as 18.  I did not last long with my first job because I was a wild youth.

6.    Why have you decided to work in a private company from being a police officer?

When I got myself separated from the force, I have no other option to feed my family except to get a job from the private sector.  I screened out several times as a call center agent and there was a time that I worked as a gardener for six months for a cousin.  Fortunately for me, a private security agency was in need of someone to oversee their operations and I felt my knowledge and experience are adequate enough for that job.     

7.    Why have you selected to become a self-reliance and primitive-living skills instructor?

After I heard from my mountaineer-friends talking about a famous TV survivalist, I instantly surmised that he was not doing those things the proper way.  Since I knew a lot of survivalcraft from my late grandfather, I begun to entertain the idea of teaching it properly to people and discuss the wisdom behind each aspect whereby it lead to a great understanding about what this guy was really doing.

8.    Are your kids also into bushcraft?  If yes, can you share how they became interested?  What is your most unforgettable experience with them?

No.  I wished they would but I will not force them.  I am just waiting for the right time when they get tired of their dependence with the electrical outlet.  Watching them grow up every day is an amazing experience.

9.    What does “teamwork” mean to you?

Teamwork is doing things in clockwork precision with all the individuals in a team.  Each one has his/her own role or functions and, whatever the outcome, as long as there is cohesiveness, the objective of teamwork is thus achieved.  Of course, I know this, being once a basketball player but it is not confined to a certain sport and it can also be adopted inside of a corporation, a home or even running an event.

10.  Would you describe yourself as a team player or an individual achiever?

Either.  I could organize and direct a team in an easy manner as much as I could bank on myself to come up with good results singlehandedly.  Most often, I just watch from the sidelines and make myself relevant when I thought I have the answers.

11.  What kind of people do you find difficult to work with and why?

People with bloated egos and the know-it-alls.  They have their own convoluted benchmarks and they are quite critical of other people who, they think, are not at their superfluous level.  And there are persons who have inferior qualities but who make up to it by projecting themselves as someone who is superior.  Trolls make up this last type.

12. What experience have you had with students from culturally diverse backgrounds?

It is always a good opportunity to learn from other people with different cultural backgrounds.  I treat each one as an equal with utmost respect and understanding.