Sabado

 Hello brothers. Kumusta ka? Mabuti. 

Magandang umaga.

Because I watched a few touristy Filipino videos a few months ago the Youtube algorithms pump numerous at me about the Philippines. Some of these give interesting historical insights. 

Have you noticed that Filipinos have Spanish surnames. There are far more than you would expect even though they were a colony of Spain for 400 years. The reason is twofold. China has a long trading history there, long before the Spaniards or Portuguese. The Spanish didn't like the Chinese and the native Filipinos didn't have surnames. So in 1849 the Spanish governor gave everyone a surname from a Spanish word. This eradicated the Chinese names and made it easier to collect taxes off the indigenous peoples.

There is a lot of flooding there too. This is not just because they get the brunt of the typhoons nor is it rising sea levels. The Philippines is sinking because of excessive extraction of water from the ground. They don't seem to have the infrastructure we do. Most families have wells. But in the larger populated areas like Manila and Cebu the water table has lowered and suburbs are sinking about 10cm a year. 

Better get ready for Mass. Don't feel the need for confession today...

Magsaya pero huwag magkasala.