Bangus resto for Valentine’s/ Same sex marriage, is it right?

The place to go for a Valentine’s Day treat is Bangus Restaurant — either at the Connecticut Car Park in Greenhills or at the Mall of Asia. With continental cuisines having sprung all around us, the Filipino palate naturally longs for home-made Filipino dishes, and Bangus Restaurant is where one finds them.

 For tomorrow’s special menu, the restaurant offers a completely Pinoy  wooden “love boat.”  Called “Lambingan sa Bangka,” it consists of a spread good for two persons – of guinataang sitaw at kalabasa, chicharon balat ng bangus, spring chicken, plain rice, special turon saging, rellenong manok, lumpiang bangus, prime-cut ala pobre, sirloin tapa, plain sinigang soup, and pakwan shake. Price: P1,200.   

I’ve always loved eating at the two places — for its boneless bangus dishes, and its non-bangus food items such as bulalo, kare-kareng buntot, crispy pata, pork sisig, binagoongang baboy, lechon kawali, sirloin tapa, rellenong manok, inihaw na baboy, adobong sugpo sa aligi, ginataang hipon, sizzling pusit, and pancit molo. The latest offerings are panarang bangus, bangus-filled fried dumplings served with spicy vinegar dip, and ensaladang asyana, made of Lollo Rosso lettuce with shredded “Asian” vegetables.

The restaurant’s story endears one to the diner’s heart. It all started with three De Mesa sisters of Pampanga putting their heads and  marketing and creative  talents  together to offer to the public what they learned about cooking from their lolo, lola, aunts and mother.  Erlinda Yap, Diana Santamaria, and Ruby Borja practically grew up in the family kitchen in Pampanga to learn the art of cooking dishes the Capampangan style. That means, says Erlinda, a music major, using the crispest, freshest meats and vegetables and just the right seasonings.

The sisters opened their first food business in the 70s at the Crossroad Arcade in Greenhills, San Juan. Today management of the two restaurants — run under the name Bangus Republic Inc.,  is in the hands of two generations — Erlinda and her son Joseph Martin, a linguistics professor, and her niece Nina Rachelle Santamaria, an architect.

Martin says, “My cousin Nina and I joined the family business because our mothers saw the need for us to continue the legacy that they have established. We saw the potential of our restaurant, its potential to expand and to offer more delicacies. Together with our mothers and the entire crew, we look forward to propelling the restaurants to higher standards in the coming years.”

 Nina says, “Although I did not finish with a degree in culinary arts, I can ouido my way around the kitchen. I can make something out of the available ingredients in the pantry, I experiment with different tastes, and most of all I love to eat.”

It was not only from the women in the family that Nina learned to love cooking and eating.  

“From  Lolo Islo  (my Mama’s father), I may have learned to be adventurous with food. I remember my Lolo and we  would snack on freshly-cooked kilawing babi and pandesal that he’d bring  back from Guagua. Or we would have crushed Guagua chicharon bits mixed into hot rice with suka or atsara for dinner. He was also the one who introduced me to the adobong camaro (crickets).”

With these two generations of  eaters, you’re not surprised that Bangus Restaurants  are a big hit with balikbayans and locals whose  passion is eating – only good food.

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The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Rotary Club of Manila and the UE College of Law are jointly sponsoring a symposium tomorrow titled “same sex marriage, is it right?”

The symposium will be   held on Valentine’s Day, when hearts — of men and women and couples of the same sex — are wont to feel, and act, romantic. But more than that, the affair  will interest many, as the topic is very much in the news. Add to that the fact that there are now more and more Filipinos of the same sex who  have tied the knot, and stayed happy together, for years. That beats heterosexual couples whose marriage hit the rocks as soon as the ink in their marriage contract has dried.  It could  be one crazy afternoon of discussions  (1 to 5 p.m.) tomorrow at the JBL Reyes Hall of the IBP building on  Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center,  as the affair will be  open  to the public.

The  presence of Justice Zenaida Elepaño, Rev. Ceejay Agbayani, Brother Wael Ibrahim, Fr. Jojo Caballes, Dr. Remedios Moog, Dean Merlin Magalona, IBP presisdent Vicente Joyas, RCM pres. Rodolfo Bediones and UE Law dean Amado Valdez and some personalities from the media,  will shed light  and different stands, on the issue.

An article on the Internet state that same-sex marriage is legally recognized in some jurisdictions within the United States and by the federal governments. As of January 2014, 17 states have legalized same-sex marriage.

A number of states still prohibit same-sex civil marriage by statute and 29 prohibit it in their constitutions. Other states refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed under the laws of other states.

The same article notes that the movement to obtain civil marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples in the United States began in the 1970s but became more prominent in the US politics in 1993 when the Hawaii Supreme Court declared the state’s prohibition to be unconstitutional. During the 21st century, public support for same-sex civil marriage has grown considerably, and national polls conducted since 2011 show that a majority of Americans support legalizing it. On May  9, 2012, Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to publicly declare support for the legalization of same-sex civil marriage. On Nov. 6, 2012, Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to legalize same-sex civil marriage through popular vote.

A social justice activist, Murray Lipp writes that the top arguments against gay marriage all received failing grades. Space constraints allow me to make brief statements on what Lipp call “failed” arguments.

On the most basic argument presented by gay marriage opponents that marriage between two people of the same sex is “not natural” and is in violation of the “natural order.” Says Lipp: “Nature-themed arguments against gay marriage say little about the societal institution of marriage but reveal a lot about the homophobia and heterosexism of those who present such arguments. In this regard, the disapproval isn’t about gay marriage per se — it’s more about discomfort with homosexuality, period.”

On the belief that marriage is for procreation, Lipp writes that while the production of children may indeed be a feature of many heterosexual marriages the capacity  to procreate does not determine the legal validity of such marriages. . . The procreation argument ignores the fact that people marry for a wide range of reasons unrelated to procreation including love, friendship and companionship.”

On same-sex marriage being “sinful,” Lipp writes that “religious beliefs about marriage should never be enshrined in laws in ways that restrict the freedom of others who do not share those beliefs.”

Lipp writes: “I urge all of those who oppose gay marriage to start focusing in their own lives, to accept that they don’t need to marry a person of the same sex, and to recognize the right of all Americans to be treated equally under the law: ‘liberty and justice for all’ should not come with a disclaimer.”

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