What’s the Crimean crisis to Pinoys?

The crisis in the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine is worrying the rest of the world but is generally ignored by Filipinos. Why, many Pinoys may not even know where Crimea or Ukraine is. (Ukrainians may not know where the Philippines is either.) To some Pinoys, however, the very mention of Crimea brings to mind the Crimean War of the 19th century immortalized by Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”

This is a poem our teacher in Literature asked us to memorize early in our schooling. Among the lines I remember best are the following: