An earthquake is a tremor of the earth's surface usually triggered by the release of underground stress along fault lines.

This release causes movement in masses of rock and resulting shock waves. In spite of extensive research and sophisticated equipment, it is impossible to predict an earthquake, although experts can estimate the likelihood of an earthquake occurring in a particular region. In 1935, American seismologist Charles Richter developed a scale that measures the magnitude of seismic waves. Called the Richter scale, it rates earth tremors on a scale from 1 to 9, with 9 being the most powerful and each number representing an increase of ten times the energy over the previous number. According to this scale, any quake that is higher than 4.5 can cause damage to stone buildings; quakes rated a magnitude of 7 and above are considered very severe. A less-known scale, the Mercalli scale, was devised by Italian seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli to measure the severity of an earthquake in terms of its impact on a particular area and its inhabitants and buildings. Some earthquakes are too small to be felt but can cause movement of the earth, opening up holes and displacing rocks. Shock waves from a very powerful earthquake can trigger smaller quakes hundreds of miles away from the epicenter. Approximately 1,000 earthquakes measuring 5.0 and above occur yearly. Earthquakes of the greatest intensity happen about once a year and major earthquakes (7.0-7.9) occur about 18 times a year. Strong earthquakes (6.0-6.9) occur about 10 times a month and moderate earthquakes (5.0-5.9) happen more than twice daily. Most earthquakes are not even noticed by the general public, since they happen either under the ocean or in unpopulated areas. Sometimes an earthquake under the ocean can be so severe, it will cause a tsunami, responsible for far greater damage. The greatest danger of an earthquake comes from falling buildings and structures and flying glass, stones and other objects. If you live in an earthquake-prone area, here are some steps that can be taken to minimize risks: Affix bookcases, cabinets, refrigerators and furniture to the walls. Fit cabinets with "childproof locks," so doors will remain closed and items won't fly out. California and Japan sell silicone putty kits that can be used to stick dishes and other breakables to the walls. Have a backpack prepared and attached to the bed, containing shoes, a flashlight and batteries, keys, money, first-aid supplies and medicines, a knife, food, water, ID and insurance information. Attaching the pack to the bed helps to insure that it will not be thrown around during an earthquake. y Keep shoes next to your bed, so you can put them on as soon as a quake begins. y Have a family evacuation plan including phone numbers and a safe place to which to evacuate. y Establish escape routes from each room in the house.

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If you are in an earthquake:

y If you are indoors, find a secure location to wait out the quake, such as under a heavy table or desk, or in an interior hallway where you can y y y y y y y y y
brace yourself between two walls. Doorways are among the safest places to stand, thanks to the strong beams overhead. However, watch out for swinging doors. Stay away from windows. If you are outdoors, try to get into an open area, away from falling buildings, power lines, trees, etc. If you are in a crowded public area, crouch down, with your hands protecting your head and neck. If you are in your car, pull over to the side, away from power lines and overpasses, and stay inside the car until the shaking has subsided. Be sure to put on shoes immediately, to avoid injury from stepping on broken glass and objects. Check yourself and others for injuries. Check for gas and water leaks and damage to electrical wires. Only turn off gas lines if there is damage; it may take a while for technicians to get to your area to turn gas and power back on. Survey the exterior of your home for structural damage to the chimney, roof, foundation and walls. Do NOT use your automobile unless there is an emergency. If you must leave the area, try to leave word where you can be contacted.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/earthquake#ixzz1lHQlGf2x tremor 1. A shaking or vibrating movement, as of the earth. 2. A trembling or quivering effect: a tremor of aspen leaves. 3. An involuntary trembling or quivering, as from nervous agitation or weakness. 4. A nervous quiver or thrill: felt a tremor of joy. 5. A state or feeling of nervous agitation or tension. 6. A tremulous sound; a quaver.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/tremor#ixzz1lHUfpqve

Intensity and Magnitude of Earthquakes

Intensity Scales The violence of seismic shaking varies considerably over a single affected area. Because the entire range of observed effects is not capable of simple quantitative definition, the strength of the shaking is commonly estimated by reference to intensity scales that describe the effects in qualitative terms. Intensity scales date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before seismographs capable of accurate measurement of ground motion were developed. Since that time, the divisions in these scales have been associated with measurable accelerations of the local ground shaking. Intensity depends, however, in a complicated way not only on ground accelerations but also on the periods and other features of seismic waves, the distance of the measuring point from the source, and the local geologic structure. Furthermore, earthquake intensity, or strength, is distinct from earthquake magnitude, which is a measure of the amplitude, or size, of seismic waves as specified by a seismograph reading. See below Earthquake magnitude. A number of different intensity scales have been set up during the past century and applied to both current and ancient destructive earthquakes. For many years the most widely used was a 10-point scale devised in 1878 by Michele Stefano de Rossi and Francois-Alphonse Forel. The scale now generally employed in North America is the Mercalli scale, as modified by Harry O. Wood and Frank Neumann in 1931, in which intensity is considered to be more suitably graded. A 12-point abridged form of the modified Mercalli scale is provided below. Modified Mercalli intensity VIII is roughly correlated with peak accelerations of about one-quarter that of gravity (g = 9.8 metres, or 32.2 feet, per second squared) and ground velocities of 20 cm (8 inches) per second. Alternative scales have been developed in both Japan and Europe for local conditions. The European (MSK) scale of 12 grades is similar to the abridged version of the Mercalli. Modified Mercalli scale of earthquake intensity I. Not felt. Marginal and long-period effects of large earthquakes. II. Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors, or otherwise favourably placed to sense tremors. III. Felt indoors. Hanging objects swing. Vibrations are similar to those caused by the passing of light trucks. Duration can be estimated. IV. Vibrations are similar to those caused by the passing of heavy trucks (or a jolt similar to that caused by a heavy ball striking the walls). Standing automobiles rock. Windows, dishes, doors rattle. Glasses clink, crockery clashes. In the upper range of grade IV, wooden walls and frames creak. V. Felt outdoors; direction may be estimated. Sleepers awaken. Liquids are disturbed, some spilled. Small objects are displaced or upset. Doors swing, open, close. Pendulum clocks stop, start, change rate. VI. Felt by all; many are frightened and run outdoors. Persons walk unsteadily. Pictures fall off walls. Furniture moves or overturns. Weak plaster and masonry cracks. Small bells ring (church, school). Trees, bushes shake. VII. Difficult to stand. Noticed by drivers of automobiles. Hanging objects quivering. Furniture broken. Damage to weak masonry. Weak chimneys broken at roof line. Fall of plaster, loose bricks, stones, tiles, cornices. Waves on ponds; water turbid with mud. Small slides and caving along sand or gravel banks. Large bells ringing. Concrete irrigation ditches damaged. VIII. Steering of automobiles affected. Damage to masonry; partial collapse. Some damage to reinforced masonry; none to reinforced masonry designed to resist lateral forces. Fall of stucco and some masonry walls. Twisting, fall of chimneys, factory stacks, monuments, towers, elevated tanks. Frame houses moved on foundations if not bolted down; loose panel walls thrown out. Decayed pilings broken off. Branches broken from trees. Changes in flow or temperature of springs and wells. Cracks in wet ground and on steep slopes. IX. General panic. Weak masonry destroyed; ordinary masonry heavily damaged, sometimes with complete collapse; reinforced masonry seriously damaged. Serious damage to reservoirs. Underground pipes broken. Conspicuous cracks in ground. In alluvial areas, sand and mud ejected; earthquake fountains, sand craters. X. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed with their foundations. Some well-built wooden structures and bridges destroyed. Serious damage to dams, dikes, embankments. Large landslides. Water thrown on banks of canals, rivers, lakes, and so on. Sand and mud shifted horizontally on beaches and flat land. Railway rails bent slightly. XI. Rails bent greatly. Underground pipelines completely out of service. XII. Damage nearly total. Large rock masses displaced. Lines of sight and level distorted. Objects thrown into air. With the use of an intensity scale, it is possible to summarize such data for an earthquake by constructing isoseismal curves, which are lines that connect points of equal intensity. If there were complete symmetry about the vertical through the earthquake's focus, isoseismals would be circles with the epicentre (the point at the surface of the Earth immediately above where the earthquake originated) as the centre. However, because of the many unsymmetrical geologic factors influencing intensity, the curves are often far from circular. The most probable position of the epicentre is often assumed to be at a point inside the area of highest intensity. In some cases, instrumental data verify this calculation, but not infrequently the true epicentre lies outside the area of greatest intensity. Earthquake Magnitude Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the size, or amplitude, of the seismic waves generated by an earthquake source and recorded by seismographs. (The types and nature of these waves are described in the section Seismic waves.) Because the size of earthquakes varies enormously, it is necessary for purposes of comparison to compress the range of wave amplitudes measured on seismograms by means of a mathematical device. In 1935 the American seismologist Charles F. Richter set up a magnitude scale of earthquakes as the logarithm to base 10 of the maximum seismic wave amplitude (in thousandths of a millimetre) recorded on a standard seismograph (the Wood-Anderson torsion pendulum seismograph) at a distance of 100 km (60 miles) from the earthquake epicentre. Reduction of amplitudes observed at various distances to the amplitudes expected at the standard distance of 100 km is made on the basis of empirical tables. Richter magnitudes M L are computed on the assumption that the ratio of the maximum wave amplitudes at two given distances is the same for all earthquakes and is independent of azimuth. Richter first applied his magnitude scale to shallow-focus earthquakes recorded within 600 km of the epicentre in the southern California region. Later, additional empirical tables were set up, whereby observations made at distant stations and on seismographs other than the standard type could be used. Empirical tables were extended to cover earthquakes of all significant focal depths and to enable independent magnitude estimates to be made from bodyand surface-wave observations. A current form of the Richter scale is shown in the table. At the present time a number of different magnitude scales are used by scientists and engineers as a measure of the relative size of an earthquake. The Pwave magnitude (M b), for one, is defined in terms of the amplitude of the P wave recorded on a standard seismograph. Similarly, the surface-wave magnitude (M s) is defined in terms of the logarithm of the maximum amplitude of ground motion for surface waves with a wave period of 20 seconds. As defined, an earthquake magnitude scale has no lower or upper limit. Sensitive seismographs can record earthquakes with magnitudes of negative value and have recorded magnitudes up to about 9.0. (The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, for example, had a Richter magnitude of 8.25.) A scientific weakness is that there is no direct mechanical basis for magnitude as defined above. Rather, it is an empirical parameter analogous to stellar magnitude assessed by astronomers. In modern practice a more soundly based mechanical measure of earthquake size is usednamely, the seismic moment (M 0). Such a parameter is related to the angular leverage of the forces that produce the slip on the causative fault. It can be calculated both from recorded seismic waves and from field measurements of the size of the fault rupture. Consequently, seismic moment provides a more uniform scale of

earthquake size based on classical mechanics. This measure allows a more scientific magnitude to be used called moment magnitude (M w). It is proportional to the logarithm of the seismic moment; values do not differ greatly from M s values for moderate earthquakes. Given the above definitions, the great Alaska earthquake of 1964, with a Richter magnitude (M L) of 8.3, also had the values M s = 8.4, M 0 = 820 10 27 dyne centimetres, and M w = 9.2.

OVERVIEW OF GENDER EQUALITY ISSUES IN FINLAND Prepared by the Finnish Institute of Occupation Health, Finland INTRODUCTION Equality between women and men is a crucial part of the Finnish welfare state model. The objective is that women and men should have equal rights, obligations and opportunities in all fields of life. It is widely acknowledged that society can progress in a more positive and democratic direction when the competence, knowledge, experience and values of both women and men are allowed to influence and enrich the development. The Act on Equality between Women and Men (609/86) in force since 1987 has three major goals:

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The prevention of sex discrimination The promotion of equality between women and men The improvement of womens status, especially in working life

The Act places a duty for promoting equality purposefully and systematically on all authorities and employers as well as in education, teaching and research. In 1992, discrimination on grounds of pregnancy and family care responsibilities was prohibited. Since 1995, employers with 30 or more regular workers have been obliged to include measures to promote equality in annual staff and training programmes or in labour protection programmes. The Amendment of 1995 includes a quota system; in official committees and councils the proportion of representatives of either sex should not be below 40%. The ban on discrimination in employment covers hiring, wages, other working conditions, including sexual harassment, supervision and termination of employment. The Ombudsman for Equality monitors the observance of the Equality Act and particularly the observance of the prohibition on discrimination and discriminatory job and training advertising. The Equality Act does not apply to:

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Activities connected with the religious practices of religious communities, or Families internal affairs or in peoples private life

In 2004, a new Act on Equality between Women and Men has been in the process of preparation. The new Act is based on the old legislation supplemented by the EU legislation and directives. GENDER EQUALITY MACHINERY The gender equality structure (limiting it to the institutions, which are specifically dealing with gender issues) is provided in Picture 4. In the Finnish Parliament, there is an Employment and Equality Committee. The Committee has regular meetings four times a week during the parliamentary session. All of the Committee members are MPs representing different political parties. The Committee has a chair, a vice chair and 15 regular members. In addition, there are nine deputy members as well as a Committee Council Clerk and an administrative assistant. The Employment and Equality Committee is responsible for handling matters related to:

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The work environment (including measures pertaining to radiation control and chemicals) The labour force Employment issues (including employment training for the adults) Participation systems Gender equality Non-military service

Among the female parliamentarians, there is a Network of Women Parliamentarians, which deals as an informal network of women crossing the strict party political lines and formalities and acts as a forum for open discussions on issues that are important for women. Sometimes the womens issues unite the women parliamentarians, but often there are political disagreements according to established party political lines and loyalties. The chair of the network rotates among the political parties. At governmental level, the Minister for Social Affairs and Health is responsible for equality matters. Equality issues fall within the scope of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland. The Ministry has three independent bodies working for the promotion of equality between women and men, the Gender Equality Unit, the Ombudsman for Equality and the Council of Equality. The Equality Board acts as an independent body within the structure. The Gender Equality Unit in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health prepares the governments gender equality policy. The Unit also co-ordinates international issues related to the European Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The specific duties of the unit include:

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Drafting and developing the Governments gender equality policy in collaboration with other ministries; Tasks related to the mainstreaming of gender equality; Tasks related to the EUs equality law and policy; Tasks related to international affairs.

The duties of the Ombudsman for Equality are laid down in the Act of Equality Women and Men. The Office of the Equality Ombudsman is a unit within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Ombudsman operates in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health as an independent authority supervising the implementation of the relevant legislation and attending to the tasks assigned to the Ombudsman by the law. The Ombudsman for Equality:

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Supervises compliance with the Act on Equality between Women and Men, in particular the prohibition on discrimination and discriminatory job advertising; Promotes the purposes of the Equality Act by means of initiatives, advice and counsellin Gives information about the Equality Act and its application; Monitors the implementation of equality between women and men in various sectors of society.

The Ombudsman for Equality may assist persons discriminated against in safeguarding their rights. The Ombudsman can be requested to issue an opinion on whether discrimination has occurred in a given case or give advice regarding equality planning and application of the quota provision. The Ombudsman, with the assistance from his/her Office, can initiate action and give advice, instructions and prepare statements for cases in contravention of the Equality Act. The Ombudsman has a wide authority to gain information both from authorities and employers and private people, along with the additional right to inspect workplaces if the employer appears to have acted against the Act on Equality or its obligations.

The Ombudsman may assist a person who has been subjected to discrimination in the protection of his/her rights, if necessary, to assist the said person in judicial proceedings relating to indemnification or compensation, if the Ombudsman considers the matter to be of considerable importance with regard to the application of the Equality. The decisions of the Ombudsman are legally binding. The Ombudsman handles about 200 written discrimination cases annually. Half of the cases concern working life issues, the other half other areas of life. Men bring up around 30 percent of the cases, while women bring up 70 percent of the cases. Advice and statements are free of charge. In addition to private citizens, the County Administrative Courts, trade unions and various associations can ask for statements and advice. The Ombudsmans Office publishes reports, research findings, brochures and bulletins. It has a wide reference and press library. The Government nominates the Equality Board members who serve for a period of three years. The Equality Board consists of a chairperson and four members. The Board has the right to handle and decide on issues, for which it has responsibility under the Equality Act. The Ombudsman presents the cases to the Board. The Equality board can give comments to the courts, which can request a comment from the Board in cases related to gender discrimination and demand compensation. The board can use administrative coercive means. The Ombudsman, the Central Organisation of the Employers Association, or the Central Organisation of the Trade Unions can separately bring an issue violating the Act on Equality between Women and Men to the Equality Board. The Equality Board can impose a fine and thus deny the continued or renewed neglect against the Equality Act. At the local level, some municipalities and big cities, among them Helsinki, have established special committees or ad hoc-working groups to advance equality issues in their regions. Some of the committees, which are established for special questions and purposes, have produced equality plans for the community. A good example is the Helsinki City Equality Plan (www.hel.fi). The tasks of the Council of Equality focus on the overall promotion of gender equality in the Finnish society. The Council serves as an active societal discussion forum in the field of equality policy and promotes gender equality, i.e., by taking initiatives and issuing opinions. It engages in equality discussions with authorities, public and municipal institutions, labour market organisations and other partners. The General Secretary of the Council for Equality works at the Gender Equality Unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Council has a chairperson and a vice-chairperson and, in addition, eleven other members, each with a personal deputy. Representatives of the National Council of Women in Finland and the Coalition of Finnish Womens Association for Joint Action (NYTKIS) take part in the Councils activities as permanent expert members. The Council for Equality:

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Monitors and promotes the implementation of equality between women and men in society; Takes initiatives and makes proposals as well as issues opinions to develop legislation and other measures affecting gender equality; Encourages co-operation between various authorities, social partners and other organisations and interest groups; Follows international development in the field of gender equality.

The Council of Equality may set up subcommittees and working groups. Examples of such subcommittees include: a Subcommittee on Mens Issues, a Subcommittee for Womens Studies, and a Subcommittee on Womens and Mens Image in the Media. The subcommittee on Mens Issues has investigated ways of raising mens interest in gender equality, looked at mens particular problems from an equality perspective, and promoted mens studies. The Council for Equality encourages men to participate in childcare. Topics include new fatherhood, violence, crises and new gender roles. Earlier the Council had a subcommittee against Violence that discussed violence against women and tried to find ways of removing and preventing violence. Picture 4. Gender equality machinery of Finland

Seminars and publications are prepared on the initiative of the subcommittees. The Council for Equality produces background information for discussions and evaluations that further mainstream the equality objectives throughout the welfare state, especially in income transfers and employment policies. The Council for Equality has supported womens studies since the 1980s. Today, womens studies have become well established within the Finnish universities and research institutes. Social partners and NGOs. Womens non-governmental organisations, labour market organisations, trade unions and a number of NGOs and smaller organisations are active partners in promoting gender equality in Finland. The umbrella organisation called NYTKIS (Coalition of Finnish Womens Association for Joint Action) includes 54 organisations with about half a million members (www.naisjarjestojenkeskusliitto.fi). There are also some mens organisations, particularly those devoted to violence prevention and mens studies (www.uta.fi). Co-operation between the government and the NGOs has been close. Most labour market organisations have special bodies and secretaries specialized in equality matters. There is an established tradition for asking the opinion of relevant NGOs and associations, including social partners, when new legislation is being prepared. The participation of various associations and organisations has been seen as an important aspect of democracy in Finland. Even the minority women have started to organise themselves. One example are the Sami women. There is a special womens committee in the Sami Council. Sarahkka is a Sami womens organisations represented in the four Northern countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. There are a number of immigrant womens associations working to improve understanding and to support women in a society and a culture different from their own. Some groups of immigrant women come from countries and cultures to which the Finnish debate on gender equality is unknown. Also several disabled womens groups are organised in different ways. In Finland, issues concerning gender equality and the situation and rights of disabled women were not seriously put on the agenda until the beginning of the 1990s. Today, major disability organisations in Finland have active womens committees and groups. Statistics Finland has a unit for Population and Gender Statistics. The Gender Barometer is being published since 1998 in collaboration with the Council of Equality. The new Gender Barometer will be published in 2004. CHALLENGES TO GENDER EQUALITY Following parliamentary elections in Finland, a new government was formed in April 2002. Gender equality is included in the official Government Programme, both as one of the general objectives and as the objective of several sectors. The Government is committed to promoting equality in working life and family life. The focus is on the reconciliation of work and family life, more flexible use of family leave, introduction of a one-month paternity leave, changes affecting working life, improvement of womens employment, and reducing the wage differential between women and men. In addition, obstacles to womens entrepreneurship will be removed. In 2004 a work group was established to gather information and statistics about womens entrepreneurship in order to encourage women in this field. A more general approach is to make authorities better aware of equality issues in their own administrative sector, i.e., by promoting gender mainstreaming. One of the tasks of the Gender Equality Unit at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is to draft and develop the Governments gender equality policy.

Spain colonized the Philippines from 1565 to 1898. The Spaniards ruled the Filipinos for 333 years. Spanish influence on the Philippines and the Filipino inhabitants was immediately visible following the imposition of Castilian colonial sovereignty. The Spaniards transplanted their social, economic, and political institutions halfway across the world to the Philippine archipelago. The colonial masters required the native Filipinos to swear allegiance to the Spanish monarch, where before they only had village chieftains called "datus;" to worship a new God, where before they worshipped a whole pantheon of supernatural deities and divinities; to speak a new language, where before they had (and still have) a Babel of tongues; and to alter their work habits, where before they worked within the framework of a subsistence economy. The Spanish landholding system based on private ownership of land replaced the Filipino system of communal landownership. Thus, when the Spanish rule ended, the Filipinos found many aspects of their way of life bearing the indelible imprint of Hispanization. To administer the Philippines, the Spaniards extended their royal government to the Filipinos. This highly centralized governmental system was theocratic. There was a union of Church and State. The Roman Catholic Church was equal to and coterminous with the State. Therefore, the cross as well as the scepter held sway over the archipelago. While the State took care of temporal matters, the Church took care of spiritual matters and hence preoccupied itself with the evangelization and the conversion of the Filipino inhabitants from their primal religion to Roman Catholicism. The Spanish friars wanted the Philippines to become the "arsenal of the Faith" in Asia. In the process, the Spanish Catholic missionaries helped in the implantation of Castilian culture and civilization on Philippine soil. This is because Spanishness was equated with Catholicism. The two terms were virtually synonymous with one another. One was not a genuine Spaniard if he was not a faithful Roman Catholic believer. The imposition of the Roman Catholic faith upon the Filipino population permanently influenced the culture and society of the Philippines. This is due to the fact that the Spanish friars who undertook the immense task of evangelizing the Filipino natives looked at their missionary work and endeavor as involving more than simple conversion. By Christianizing the Filipinos, the Spanish Catholic missionaries were in effect remodelling Filipino culture and society according to the Hispanic standard. They would be Hispanizing the Filipinos, teaching them the trades, manners, customs, language and habits of the Spanish people. This influence is evident even in the way we tell time ("alas singko y media"), in the way we count ("uno, dos, tres"), and in the family names we carry ( De la Cruz, Reyes, Santos, etcetera). The Filipino populace embraced Spanish Roman Catholic Christianity almost unquestioningly. The Spanish authorities congregated the scattered Filipino population into clustered village settlements, where they could more easily be instructed and Christianized under a friars eye. This policy paved the way for the emergence of the present system of politico-territorial organization of villages, towns, and provinces. At the same time, the compact villages which were literally under the bells of the Roman Catholic Church permitted the regular clergy to wake up the villagers each day, summon them to mass, and subject them to religious indoctrination or cathechismal instruction. This process enabled the Church to play a central role in the lives of the people because it touched every aspect of their existence from birth to growth to marriage to adulthood to death. Whether the natives clearly understood the tenets and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church is of course another matter. Some scholars claim that the Spaniards only superficially Christianized the Filipinos, most of whom learned to recite the prayers and chants by rote, without any idea as to their meaning. Some native inhabitants became only nominal Christians. At any rate, there is no denying the fact that many Filipinos defended the Catholic faith devotedly. Through the Church and its zealous missionaries, the Filipinos learned new techniques and procedures involving the cultivation of agricultural crops introduced from Mexico, one of Spains colonies in the New World. For example, prior to the imposition of Castilian rule, the Filipinos practiced swiddening or slash-and-burn agriculture. This farming technique involved clearing a hillside or a patch of land, cutting down the trees, burning the trunks, the branches and the leaves, removing the rocks, and then planting through the use of a pointed stick to create a hole on the ground into which seeds were thrown. Then the farmer simply waited for harvest time to arrive. This situation changed when the missionaries taught the Filipino natives horticultural techniques requiring intensive cultivation of land through better irrigation and water management so as to lessen their dependency on rainfall. In addition to teaching the Filipinos new farming methods and introducing to them new crops such as maize, avocado, tomato, and cacao, from which the nutritious drink of chocolate was derived, the Spanish friars taught the rudiments of reading and writing to the natives, not to mention useful trades such as painting, baking and locksmithing. In the course of Spanish colonization in the Philippines, the friars constructed opulent Baroque-style church edifices. These structures are still found today everywhere across the country and they symbolize the cultural influence of Spain in Filipino life. The opulence of these edifices was clearly visible in the ornate facades, paintings, and sculpture, as well as in the behavioral patterns of the people and in the intricate rituals associated with Roman Catholic churches. While it is true that the Spaniards exploited labor in the construction of the imposing Baroque-style sanctuaries for Roman Catholic worship, it is also true that these same edifices became the means by which Filipino artistic talents and inclinations were expressed. The carpenters, masons, craftsmen, and artisans were mainly Filipinos. In this way, the Roman Catholic Church and religion influenced Filipino architectural and building style, even as the rituals and festivities of the Church influenced Filipino dances, songs, paintings, and literary writings. Through these influences, the Church

afforded the Filipinos abundant opportunities for both solemn rites and joyous festivities and celebrations known as "fiestas." The services inside the Catholic churches often spilled out into the thoroughfare in the form of colorful and pageant-filled religious processions in which the rich and the poor participated. Dining, drinking, and merrymaking often followed or accompanied such religious activities. During these feasts, Spanish culinary specialties like "paella" (a dish consisting of a mixture of rice, chicken and shellfish), "arroz valenciana" (glutinous rice and chicken cooked in coconut milk), and "lengua" (sauteed ox-tongue usually with mushroom sauce) became part of the local table fare. The rites and feasts served to provide relief from the drudgery of humdrum village existence, to release pent-up social and economic frustrations, or to foster community spirit and unity. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Spaniards enriched the Filipino languages through lexicographic studies produced by the friars. Many Spanish words found their way into the Tagalog and Visayan languages. The Spanish words somehow fitted into the phonetic patterns of the Filipino languages. These Spanish words like "mesa" (table), "adobo" (marinated cooked food), and others are commonly used today in the daily practical transactions of the Filipinos with each other. Ironically, the friars came up with excellent studies on Filipino culture and languages even as they sought to overthrow this same culture through their implantation of Spanish civilization. The influences from Spain have become permanently embedded in Filipino culture. The Filipino people themselves have internalized them. They cannot be undone anymore. For good or bad, they have catapulted the Filipinos into the world of Spanish culture, into the world of Spanish civilization and its products. Nevertheless, it must be said that the Filipinos did not receive the cultural influences from Spain sitting down. They responded in a way that demonstrated their capacity to master the new and to balance the new against the old, in a way that called for their capacity to bring values and principles to bear with a critical and informed judgment, and in a way that called for them to be able to sift what is essential from what is trivial. Thus they responded selectively to the novelties the Spaniards brought with them to the Philippine Islands. The Filipinos accepted only those that fitted their temperament, such as the "fiesta" that has become one of the most endearing aspects of life in these islands, and made them blend with their indigenous lifestyle to produce a precious Philippine cultural heritage.