I am laying my cards here for the senatorial candidates that I will be campaigning and vote for in the coming 2010 national elections. I urge the voters to reject the trapos, those who are returning from the Senate so many times but found to be wanting in principles and consistency. They jumped from one side to the other. These are the candidates who run under the opposition but are staunch defenders of the administration.

I also appeal to the voters not to vote for candidates who are wasting taxpayer’s money but failed to deliver especially the ones who are only relying on their popularity. The latter ones spend their Senate working hours either sleeping on the job or pre occupied themselves with gossips and investigation of high profile personalities which is not relevant to the lives of the Filipino people.

So come May 10, 2010 elections, I will be voting for the following.

1. Neric Acosta (LP) – son of Mindanao from Bukidnon. Intelligent.

2. Frank Drilon (LP) – tried and tested leader. Have strong principles.

3. TJ Guingona (LP) – Consistent oppositionist. Like father, like son. Also a Mindanaoan from Bukidnon.

4. Jun Lozada (NP) – he has wit. I admire his determination to seek the truth.This my reward for being brave to collide head on with the powerful.

5. Joey De Venecia (PMP) – I love whistleblowers. They risked their lives and job to expose anomalies.

6. Ruffy Biazon (LP) – I like his father. This guy has good track record in Congress.

7. Ompong Plaza (PMP) – Its time to vote for another Mindanaoan from Agusan del Sur . He has a good record while in Congress.

8. Serge Osmena (Ind.) – Sometimes we need the statemanship of an Osmena. Also to always give Cebu a voice in the Senate.

9. Yasmin Busran-Lao (LP) – Feminist and Muslim representative all rolled into one.

10. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel (LP-Akbayan) – militant but not communist.

11. Jinggoy Estrada (PMP) – I trust this guy. Estrada’s are good for the people.

12. Adel Tamano (NP) – I like this guy. He is a new face in Philippine politics.

All in all 6 LP’s, 2 NP’s, 3 PMP’s and 1 Independent. Too bad, they cant be under one party. But thats okay. No administration candidate in my line up. They are mediocre anyway.

This week’s protest calling for the ouster of Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative General Manager Edgardo Masongsong showed a bigger and braver crowd including priests and nuns.

But organizers called off the protest following a gentleman’s agreement with the clergy after a day. The clergy entered into a dialogue with the Buseco management on December 14, on the same day as that of the protest.

In the dialogue, Presidential Adviser on Rural Electrification Fr. Francisco Silva ordered Masongsong  to drop his libel charges against Bishop Honesto Pacana and 51 Bukidnon priests.

Masongsong obliged and also agreed to submit to a vote of confidence on December 21 among Buseco staff with Pacana around. 

Fr. Jonathan Tianero and Buseco Malaybalay branch Juancho Chiong said this could lead to a resolution of the ensuing conflict between the clergy and Buseco.

(WIB Photos)

Here are some amateur photos of the Christmas arches around Malaybalay City in time for Christmas 2009. From the top, at the entrance of Bukidnon National High School, from Valencia City near Old public cemetery, near the Bethel Baptist Hospital in Sumpong, at the Plaza Rizal from the San Isidro Catheral, and the third gate of Bukidnon State University.  (WIB PHotos)

In the advent of globalization, can love be this picture-perfect?

Love Me Again (Land Down Under)
Director: Rory B. Quintos
Cast: Piolo Pascual, Angel Locsin
2008

One cannot write about Rory Quintos’ Love Me Again (Land Down Under) without reviewing Piolo’s abs. Those yummy hunks of toasted brown pandesal—sarap gawing agahan—are practically the film’s centerpiece. Forgive the bias, I may exaggerate a bit, but seriously, Piolo’s abs are like the film’s visual motif or something. If you’re not seeing the actual six-pack onscreen, you see it in the form of Bukidnon’s rolling mountain ranges or Australia’s dry but sensuous dunes, the rippling backdrop to the lovers’ narrative.

This isn’t just cheap body worship doing the talking. It could be, partly, but all things considered, Love Me Again is essentially about fetishism anyway. We might as well be blunt about it.

Kidding aside, bodies do take center stage in Love Me Again. Migo (Piolo Pascual) is the brusque but sensitive cowboy whose tight cutoff shirts show off every ripple of his wrangler’s physique. Arah (Angel Locsin), on the other hand, is the shapely laborer extraordinaire who capitalizes on her physical capabilities, whether as a pineapple plantation worker in Mindanao, or as a ranch hand in Australia.

The spectacle of Arah and Migo’s bodies underscores the dual role of the body in an imperialist system: an economic workhorse, a font of libidinal desires. Arah and Migo’s romance symbolizes the interrelationship between the libidinal and the economic. More than just framing the (onscreen) couple in a dramatic tale of love overcoming odds, Love Me Again situates them in what Neferti Tadiar calls “sexual economies.”

Arah, as the migrant worker, is the manifestation of the Philippines’ labor export policy. She is the quintessential Filipina worker: intelligent but with insufficient access to education, hardworking, loyal, and willing to sacrifice personal happiness for the welfare of her family. Arah’s trajectory from agricultural laborer to migrant laborer shows the government’s neoliberal thrust of promoting Filipino labor as a cheap commodity. People, particularly Filipinas, are no more than export-quality bodies supplied to foreign markets. This trade, basically modern-day slavery, is so widespread and lucrative that the Filipino economy is practically kept afloat by overseas workers’ remittances.

Arah: From farm worker (top) to OFW (bottom).

Migo, on the other hand, is not really Migo; more than anything else he is Piolo, the hunk of the moment, the lust-worthy body that commands public desire. Love Me Again suffers precisely because Quintos directs Piolo with this frame of mind. Despite Piolo’s acting capabilities, his portrayal of Migo is so stale, as if the director was unwilling to make him look ugly or unflattering, so overly protective of Piolo’s current sex-symbol status that Migo comes off as unrealistic, too handsome, too beautiful to be believable. He is simply the hunk on the billboard pandering to a rugged worker fetish. If Arah’s migrant struggle was the narrative selling point, Piolo was the marketing tool. Angel provided the meat of the story, Piolo provided the meat.

Migo: The hunk (top) romps with his meat (bottom).

This libidinal-economic division of labor is most evident in a montage where the tribulations of Arah and Migo are paralleled. On the one hand, we see Arah toiling so hard, taking on all kinds of menial jobs from cooking in the sand to lassoing cattle, even hacking down termites’ nests in order to protect the ranch’s fences. When we see her remit money back to her family, it is clear that the money is hard-earned, her absence back home almost palpable.

On the other hand (perhaps for the sake of narrative) we see Migo’s bleak story, his farm beset by sickness and financial ruin. Unlike the almost documentary approach to Arah, Migo’s half of the montage is filled with beauty shots, each frame emphasizing his attractive facial features (close-ups of him looking troubled or pensive) and fleshy physique (wide shots of Piolo horseback riding in tight wifebeaters, and most blatantly, pondering on his misfortunes in the middle of the night—topless).

Arah (left) uses her body for hard labor, while Migo (right) shows off his hard body.

Love Me Again plays up the Piolo factor so much that its main love scene is practically a series of close ups of Piolo’s abs and biceps. (Really, I’m not kidding. When I watched this in the theater, the whole audience let out a collective gasp at the sight of Piolo’s abs.) Perhaps it is no coincidence that the film is about cowboys. After all, the lexicon of male objectification borrows much from cattle terminology. Hot males are described in the same way one would speak of livestock—hunk, meat, sizzling, boner, pork, beefcake etc—as if men, in this case cowboys, were no different from the steer they round up.

Arah gets herself a midnight snack. Her disembodied hands become the viewer's, exploring Migo's uncharted 'land down under.'

In a capitalist system, especially in the Philippine context where neoliberal policies are king, where human labor is fetishized and commodified for economic output or sexual desire, how are we supposed to love? This system, after all, not unlike the slave trade of the Industrial Revolution era, breaks apart families, friendships, and couples like Migo and Arah. When everything, including humans and relationships, is assigned a corresponding exchange value, one is forced to look at love as a business investment, like Arah’s relationship to her Australian employer.

Love is simply not feasible, yet somehow, by virtue of a glaring contrivance, Love Me Again ends happily. While this is easily interpreted as the filmmakers’ weakness and/or compromise (and it most likely is), perhaps the unreal-ness is the point. The obviously forced ending makes its impossibility more glaring. One leaves the cinema feeling cheated, dissatisfied, duped. And why not? When once comes face to face with the inhumanity of capitalism and how it commodifies people, how can any decent human being feel otherwise? #

I think everyone is afraid of something. Some are afraid of spiders,  ghost, in the  dark, and etc.  Me? I have this disease called Acrophobia.

Acrophobia  is another fairly common fear, that of heights. I envy
those men who work on tall buildings, those people who can dare bungee jumping and sky diving, and all those people who are like Spiderman.
I am terrified of standing on the curb! And even watching this image gave me creeps.

When my friends invited me to go ziplining in Dahilayan Park, Bukidnon, I was excited and at the same time, nervous. I don’t want them to know that I’m afraid of heights, because I’m afraid that they will make fun of me.
The place was beautiful and breath-taking, it makes the rocky and dusty trip worthwhile. The place was full of pine trees, it reminds me of Baguio.

Dahilayan Adventure Park’s Zipzone! is the home of the longest zipline in Asia.

Fast facts about this zipline adventure in Dahilayan Adventure Park’s Zipzone:

- Dual Carrying cables each 840 meters long point to point

- Safety cable also 840 meters long

- Total length of cables: 2,460 meters

- Elevation drop: 100meters

- Estimated speed: 60-100KPH

- Launch point Location at 4000 ft ASL

When we were at the launching tower, all of us were excited. I just acted calm and cool, afraid that they will found out that I’m actually nervous. I was even more afraid that they will notice that I’m nervous when the girls said that they were excited, showing no sign of fear as they danced and took pictures. I prayed silently as I waited for my turn, asking God that he will help me and that everything will be O.K. When my turn came, I was trembling… And then, I was flying. Just watch this so that you will understand what I’m trying to say.

The experience was, unexplainable. I can’t explain my feeling. As I was flying, many thoughts came to my mind. I’m thinking that just one mistake, and I’ll be dead. Good thing God answers my prayers, and I reached the ground safely. After that, realized that it was fun, I said, “AGAIN!”. One thing for sure, I could conquer my fear. The experience was mind-blowing. I love it, and I want to do it again.

WE MADE IT!

So great are the advantages we reap from the incarnation of the Son of God that to contemplate it, and to thank and praise him for the same, ought to be the primary object of all our devotions and the employment of our whole lives. In the feast of the Conception of the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God we celebrate the joyful dawning of that bright day of mercy, the first appearance which that most glorious of all pure creatures made in the world, with those first seeds of grace which produced the most admirable fruit in her soul. Her conception was itself a glorious mystery, a great grace, and the first effect of her predestination. Her Divine Son, the eternal God, in the first moment of her being, considered the sublime dignity to which he had decreed to raise her, and remembered that august, dear, sacred, and venerable name of his mother, which she was one day to bear; and he beheld her with a complacency, and distinguished her in a manner, suitable to so near a relation she was to bear.

Parishes celebrating fiesta today (primarily of CAMBUSTAN area except Iligan) CAMBUSTAN means Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, and its suffragan Dioceses of  Malaybalay, Butuan, Surigao and Tandag.

Luinab, Iligan City
Wao, Lanao del Sur
Kibawe, Bukidnon
Guinoyoran, Valencia City, Bukidnon
Impasug-ong, Bukidnon
Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon
Aluba, Mandumol, Cagayan de Oro City
Bulua, Cagayan de Oro
Jasaan, Misamis Oriental
St. Joseph Subd., Butuan City
Veruela, Agusan del Sur
Nonoc, Surigao City
Dinagat, Province of Dinagat Islands
Tago, Surigao del Sur
Cantilan, Surigao del Sur

Bukidnon

Running for Governor are Vice Governor Alex Calingasan from Lakas Kampi, controversial priest, Diosdado Tabios of the Nacionalista Party and former Governor Ernesto Tabios of the Liberal Party. For Vice Governor, only one candidate has filed as of this writing, that is, Governor Jose Maria Zubiri.

For the 1st District Congressional seat, its Candido Pancrudo of Lakas Kampi, DA Usec Jesus Emmanuel Paras of Nationalist People’s Coalition and former Manolo Fortich Mayor Socorro Acosta of the Liberal Party.

In the 2nd District, its Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio Flores Jr. of Lakas Kampi, former Vice Governor Wenifredo Agripo of the Liberal Party, Joanne Dediosa and Fernando Carrasco.

For the 3rd District, its incumbent Representative Jose Zubiri III of Lakas and Salvador Galon.

Camiguin

The Romualdo’s finally have an opponent. For Governor, its incumbent Governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo of Lakas Kampi against Rogelio Gallardo, a businessman and brother of former Governor Antonietto Gallardo of the Liberal Party.

For Vice Governor, its incumbent Vice Governor Leo Lasacar of Lakas against i Juan Margarito Neri of the Liberal Party.

For the lone district Congressional seat, its incumbent Congressman Pedro “Loloy” Romualdo of Lakas versus Atty. Florencio Narido Jr., also from the Liberal Party.

Only two candidates so far has filed its candidacy for Board Member and these are from the 2nd District in the person of Eleuterio Pabillore and Franklin Go.

Misamis Oriental

Its now official. Its a three cornered fight in the 2nd District with the rematch in the 2007 election between incumbent Congressman Yevgeny Emano of Lakas Kampi and former Rep. Augusto “Junbacs” Baculio formerly of Kampi and now running under the Liberal Party and former Vice Governor Julio Uy under Pwersa ng Masa-Padayon Pilipino coalition.

In the First District, its a three cornered fight also between Board Member Pedro “Manok ni Sr. Pedro” Unabia of Pwersa Ng Masa-Padayon Pilipino coalition, Atty. Jose Emeterio “Onyok” Moreno of Lakas Kampi and Atty. Karen Lagbas, the daughter of the late Rep. Lagbas, who will be running as Independent.

Misamis Occidental

So far only the 2nd Congressional District is reported. Its a battle of the heavyweights and I think its one of the electoral contest should watched upon. Contesting the seat are incumbent Governor Leo Ocampos of the Liberal Party, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog of Lakas Kampi and Tangub City Mayor Jennifer Wee Tan of the Nacionalista Party.

For Governor, only one has yet filed his candidacy and this is Hilario Ramiro.

From Bombo Radyo

The camp of Vice Mayor Dongkoy Emano has filed their Certificate of Candidacies in the Province of Misamis Oriental.

As expected, Gingoog City lawyer, Atty Michael Paderanga will run for Governor and will be facing political giant, incumbent Governor Oca Moreno of Lakas Kampi. His runningmate is Victorino Vicente Chavez who will likewise face incumbent Vice Governor Norris Babiera.

For 1st District Congressman, Padayon Pilipino fields Board Member Peter Unabia who will face Oca Moreno’s brother, Atty. Jose Emeterio “Onyok” Moreno of Lakas and Atty. Karen Lagbas probably of the Nacionalista Party.

It will be a possible three cornered fight in the 2nd District as Padayon Pilipino candidate Bambi Emano is expected to face former Villanueva town mayor Julio Uy and former Congressman Augusto “Jun” Baculio.

For the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Padayon Pilipino is virtually fielding neophyte candidates. For the 1st District, its candidates are Rico Taray, Michelle Anayron (is this the 4th ID spokesman?), Melchor Cubillo, Judevel Ursal and Nicanor Guibone. They will be up against incumbent Board members Jimmy Caiña, Jeremy Pelaez, and Benedict Lagbas, City Councilor Bernales and another Gingoog City native.

In the 2nd District, Padayon Pilipino fields Nancy Madjos, Mary Grace Acain, Hickart Emano, Jesus Jardin, Rolando Seno who will face Board Members Oliver Actub, Emmanuel Mugot, Santiago Sabal, Ed Ayunting and Dr. Bebiana Casiño.

***

Cagayan de Oro First District Rep. Rolando “Klarex” Uy is set to file his candidacy for Mayor of Cagayan de Oro City. He will have a face off with former mentor and now archrival Vice Mayor Vicente “Dongkoy” Emano of Padayon Pilipino. Uy hinted that his runningmate is an incumbent councilor. It could either be Roger Abaday, Teodolfo Lao or Zaldy Ocon.

***

There are many interested in the seat to be vacated by Rep. Uy. The names that cropped up are: Lorna Uy, the Barangay Chair of Carmen and wife of Klarex Uy, City Councilor Ian Acenas, former City Councilor Benjo Benaldo and Jakindi Darimbang.

***

An article from Bukidnon Online said that Governor Joe Zubiri’s plan to shift to Liberal Party did not materialize because of the strong opposition from the camp of former Congressman Nereus Acosta. The Acostas threatened to leave the Liberal Party if the Zubiris will be accepted as members. As a consequence, Joe Zubiri and company stick with Lakas and Gibo Teodoro. It is reported that the reason behind Zubiri’s interest to jump to the Liberal Party is the mock polls conducted by his constituents wherein Liberal Party standard bearer Noynoy Aquino emerged on top.

Zubiri’s congressional candidates include incumbent Reps. Ben Pancrudo of the 1st District and Jose Zubiri III of the 3rd Dist. The party will field Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio Flores Jr. in the vacant 2nd District seat left by Rep. Teofisto Guingona III who will be running for Senator under the Liberal Party. Flores will be face former Vice Governor Wenifredo Agripo Sr. who will be running under the Liberal Party.

In the First District, incumbent Rep. Ben Pancrudo will likely face a rematch with Ma. Lourdes Acosta of the Liberal Party and Agriculture Undersecretary Jess Paras, who is a successful businessman in nearby Cagayan de Oro who owns Parasat Cable TV, Paras Sea Cat ferry and the Paras Beach Resort in Camiguin.

So its Manny and Loren tandem. A year ago, Loren Legarda was one of the fierciest critics of Manny Villar. At that time, Loren was hoping that she will be one of the frontrunners in the 2010 elections. At that time, Loren like the rest, sees Villar as a threat to their ambitions.

Loren also supported the investigation of Manny Villar’s controversy regarding the diversion of C5 road to pass to the properties of Villar to jack up its prices.

Not so long ago, Loren strongly reacted at Manny Villar when the latter commented that one should have at least 1 billion to run a presidential campaign.

Loren then commented,

“Nakakalungkot yung nabasa ko sa dyaryo noong Martes. Sabi ni Senator Manny Villar na kung wala ka raw P1 billion, huwag mo ng ituloy ang balak mo bilang pangulo…Ibig ba n’yang sabihin, kung wala kang pera ay huwag ka ng mangarap na makapaglingkod bilang pangulo sa ating bansa?, (Its saddening what I read in the papers last Tuesday. Senator Manny Villar said if you dont have 1 billion, dont push through with your plan to run for President. Does he mean that if you dont have money you should stop aiming to serve as President of our country?)

Loren added,

“Nakalulungkot pong isipin na paliliitin natin ang usapin ng paglilingkod sa bayan sa isyu ng pera. Pera-pera na lang ba ang eleksyon? Talaga bang ang tingin nya sa taong bayan ay mukhang pera?” (Its sad to think that we will reduce the concept of serving our country on the issue of money? Are elections all about money? Does he really look at our people as hungry for money?)

Fast forward and Loren and Manny are chummy with each other. Villar said theirs was a union, not of money but of principles.

“Ang pagsasama namin ay hindi hinog sa pilit, hindi ginawa para sa popularidad, hindi base sa emosyon kundi hinubog ng pagsasanga ng aming mga pangarap sa bayang Pilipinas,” (Our partnership is neither based on popularity nor emotion, but one that is molded by our common goals for the country.)

said Villar.

My stomach is turning. If popularity is not he is after, why not pick someone from their party and not choose those coming from another? I wonder what is their common goals for the country. Goals for the country, not ruled with emotions. Cut the crap.

After strongly reacting to the comments of Sen. Manny Villar, its absurd that Loren Legarda is teaming with the man he criticized for reducing elections as mere money thing. Damn. Pardon me, but this one’s really revolting.

In any angle we are seeing, its a marriage of traditional political butterflies. Manny turned his back on Erap, jumped to the administration,then to opposition again. But even while he claims to be with the opposition, still he has shown some closeness with Malacanang. You never hear Villar issuing harsh words against Gloria Arroyo.

On the other hand, Loren started as Lakas, jumped to FPJ’s KNP in 2004 to be her runningmate, then jumped to NPC. She is constantly searching for someone who can accomodate her Vice Presidential and the (future) Presidential ambitions.

I strongly agree with Senator Madrigal that this union is a case of political prostitution.

To Manny Villar and Loren Legarda!

“Ganyan ba kababa ang tingin nyo sa taumbayan na kunwariy ang inyong pagsasanib ay dahil daw sa prinsipyo at hindi sa pera pera lang?”

***

The camp of Lakas Kampi is getting hilarious in its comment about Gibo’s consistent low ratings. In August, surveys show that Gibo only has point something percent. Lakas leaders said, its natural because Gibo has not declared his intention to run as President.

Then another survey came and still Gibo lagging by a mile. Lakas then said that wait until Gibo will accept the party nomination and that is where his ratings will improve because party members would rally behind him and to stop the massive exodus to other parties.

Gibo accepted the nomination and is now the presumptive candidate of the administration.

Then this latest survey came. And Gibo is still dwelling at the cellar.

What could be the next alibi? Then, always to be relied upon, Lakas said that people have to wait until the campaign period starts as local candidates would now pitch for Gibo and for sure his ratings will dramatically improve even as what is transpiring, party members are starting to do an ober da bakod to other parties at an alarming rate.

At the rate that Lakas is deserted by its members, come election only Gibo and Edu will be left with Lakas!

***

Lakas might lose another big provincial ally. Bukidnon online, a Bukidnon blog, posted that the Zubiris are contemplating to switch to the Liberal Party. If the plan with push through, Bukidnon will be virtually Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas country as it will seal the unity of the province as far as the Presidential race is concerned. Earlier, Nereus Acosta of the First District and TJ Guingona of the 2nd District are already with Noynoy Aquino. The Zubiris jumping to Liberal would seal the doom of the administration party in the province of Bukidnon.

The Liberal Party tandem of senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas  topped the  survey conducted by Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. among elected officials in mock polls in the province’s three congressional districts this week.

In caucuses held at the BRCI compound in Manolo Fortich on November 3, at the Folk Arts Theater in Malaybalay City on November 4, and at the Municipal Gym in Maramag on November 5, Zubiri asked mayors, vice mayors, municipal and city councilors, and barangay captains in the districts to cast via secret balloting their choice for President, Vice President, and district representative.

In all three gatherings, the LP tandem led the mock polls.

Zubiri requested an embargo of the poll figures although he obliged MindaNews  to release the ranking.  He said they want to put it on hold until the mass oath-taking of  politicians in the province to the Liberal Party at a still undisclosed date.

In the first district, where LP senatorial contender and former Rep. Nereus Acosta is based, Aquino led the survey with Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro a poor second, followed by Sen. Manuel Villar, and ousted President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Francis Escudero tying for the fourth place.

Roxas led among the vice presidential contenders, followed by Sen. Loren Legarda, who also was a poor second like Teodoro. Legard was followed by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Vice President Noli de Castro. Read on at MindaNews.com.

by Tracey Santiago

Two of the few things I passionately enjoy doing in my life are traveling to faraway places and getting lost in faraway places. This has been a passion since I was 12, when I would find myself lost in the streets of Manila. It was in those times when I learned not only to find my way out of being lost but also finding the best local finds in every place.

Last May, I traveled to Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon with my friend Ronald Lagazo, who is the advocacy officer of Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc. to visit some of the fair trade producers in the region. APFTI has provided technical support to small enterprises across the Philippines to create and market globally-competitive enterprises using fair trade principles. This means that whenever you buy Fair Trade products, you are not just supporting the local economy but you are also helping producers to observe socially and environmentally just practices, such as promoting gender equity, payment of fair wages, non-employment of children, and protecting the environment. And as we support these Fair Trade producers, we also become responsible tourists because we are also supporting the local communities.

We visited some fair trade producers and local attractions and discovered a lot of the not-so-popular and hidden treasures of Northern Mindanao.

Salay Handmade Paper. Salay is a small town east of Cagayan de Oro City. One of its major industries is handmade paper making which started in 1987 by Loreta Rafisura as a civic organization but is now making big in the export industry as a business enterprise now more known in 1st world countries as SHAPII or Salay Handmade Paper Industries, Inc. Who would’ve thought that this small town supplies paper for Hallmark, Marks & Spencer, and Barnes & Noble?!

To contact SHAPII: You may contact Ms. Loreta Rafisura at (088)858-7517 or visit their website at www.salayhandmade.net.

To get there: Take the bus going to Butuan at the Agora Bus Terminal from Cagayan de Oro City. It’s about an hour and a half to reach the Petron station in Salay, SHAPII is a few meters after the station.

Vjandep. Aside from the clear waters and white sandbars of Camiguin, this small island in the east of Misamis Oriental is also known for its soft buns with yema filling called Pastel. I first tasted this soft bun 2 years ago when a friend from CDO gave it as a pasalubong. The sweet filling melts in your mouth and is perfect with freshly brewed coffee. Vjandep started making pastel in their small bakery in Mambajao and is now a multi-awarded business enterprise in the region.

Where to buy: You can find Vjandep’s Pastel in Cagayan de Oro City along Tiano St. and the Angel Chavez Complex. A box of 6 costs Php58.00 and a box of 12 costs Php115.00.

Night Café. Looking for an outdoor night gimik? Cagayan De Oro offers a night café in the streets of Divisoria every Friday and Saturday from 6pm-2am. But they don’t offer coffee! It’s an outdoor night market where you’ll find the best ukay-ukay in the city, barbeques and other grilled food, and band concerts featuring local artists.

Bistro Mercedez. I’m always fascinated with adaptive reuse of old houses. This used to be the old house of the Chavezes of Cagayan De Oro City and is now turned into a fine dining restaurant along Chavez St. Boy Gualberto and his wife Farrah who is a New York trained chef rebuilt this house from ruins. Most of the materials used in rebuilding are new but they maintained the feeling of antiquity and home in the heart of the city.

Good Coffee, a Chapel, and a Jolly Monk. Monk’s Blend premium coffee is made from the finest robusta and arabica coffee beans, nurtured in the cold climate, high altitude and unique volcanic soil of Bukidnon. This premium coffee has no preservatives or additives; just the natural goodness of fresh, mountain-grown coffee, roasted and blended to perfection by the Benedictine monks at the Monastery of the Transfiguration in the city of Malaybalay.

The Chapel inside the compound of the monastery was designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin.

One will not miss this jolly monk by the name of Fr. Columbano Adag. He entertained us with his very joyful outlook, very unusual for someone who has lived in a monastery for nearly 28 years. He still clearly remembers how he traveled to Bukidnon in 1981 to find a place to build the monastery for the Benedictine monks.

Sweet Organic Pineapples. We traveled to Maramag town in Bukidnon and tasted the best and only organically grown pineapple in the country. We stopped by a plantation where farmers were currently harvesting. One of the farmers suddenly chopped and sliced pineapples right in front of us to have a taste. With the view of Mt. Kitanglad and a vast pineapple plantation around us, matched with the cool breeze of Bukidnon, we were having one sweet day.

NOFPI or Nature’s Organic Fresh Pineapples, Inc. thought that planting organic pineapples would be impossible. But with a positive and clear vision of creating a 60-hectare of organically grown pineapples in 2006, they have already covered 12 hectares of making their dream into reality.

To contact NOFPI: Call Genelyn Lianda at (088)2212538; 2215222 local 102.

Sir Edwards Bar Grill Seafood Restaurant and Chicken Ati-atihan.
I recommend that you take this restaurant as your first stop when you go to Malaybalay and taste their heavenly grilled chicken. Roy Panes, the hospitable owner, will not only personally take care of your meals but he will also personally bring you around Bukidnon for a tour! A local chef and tour guide extraordinaire!

Roy Panes heads the Malaybalay Food Handler’s Association and one of their achievements last year was to start the Search for Malaybalay’s Best Delicacies. Most of the entry-products such as the piniatos, piniasitas, pine bars, and cheese flavored banana chips are now being sold in this restaurant, your one-stop pasalubong center!

To contact Sir Edward’s Restaurant: Call Roy Panes at 09206249062.

Quadra Eco-Resort. This resort is one of a dozen ranches located within the city. Aside from short rides inside their ranch, the resort also offers day-long and overnight rides on trails along the Kitanglad mountain range with experienced local wranglers as guides. They also have huts fit for a group of 5 for overnight accommodations. Wake-up with the sounds of horses roaming around the ranch and enjoy the early morning chills with the view of the Malaybalay mountain ranges. Visit the Quadra Eco-Resort, Sta Cruz St, Malaybalay, tel: +63(88) 221 3338.

Published at MB TraVel June 25-July 9, 2009 issue, pp10-12

STEPHEN PAMISA BUNA appeared to be a struggling student living in southern Philippines Island of Mindanao. After a few months, I got to know Stephen quiet well. I found out that his mother that had died a few years earlier, and was left to look after his younger brothers. He was studying to be an elementary teacher at Bukidnon State College in Malaybalay, the local university. He had won a scholarship for his studies. As with most things in the Philippines things are never as they appear. The scholarship was for one year only and he is in his second year by this time and had not paid his dues. Now for some strange reason he was able to attend university but he would not be able to get any documentation until he paid the fees. I offered to take care of his university fees with the belief that it was not a lot of money and I did not drink or smoke so it was not such a big deal.

Stephen finished his education, obtained a degree of BACHELOR OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, WITH CONCENTRATION IN FILIPINO.

I needed to visit Manila and decided instead of going to visit Stephen in a strange place I would pay his airfare to Manila and have him visit me. Stephen had never been in an airplane before so it would have been a great excursion for him. Stephen had a brother Gasper living in Manila. He had been taken from his family by the Catholic Church some 19 years previously but had never had any contact with the remaining family until that visit. I met Gasper, a 29-year old and found out that he too had a degree to teach elementary students but because he had not sat his licensure exam, he could no longer teach.

I decided that Stephen needed to do a review before he sat his examination and it decided according to Gasper at a great review school in Manila. Stephen stayed in Manila while he did the review before going back to his home town of Malaybalay. I paid for the review and his accommodation in manila and Gasper decided that he would come back with Stephen to Mindanao until he sat the examination. The idea was to ensure that Stephen did not go off the tracks. That did sound good to, but I was not counting on paying for Gasper’s holiday, but it was important that Stephen stay focused for his examination.

After Stephen sat his exam, Gasper went back to Manila and got his old teaching job back. Gasper was “let go” because he had not passed his licensure examination as a teacher. I offered to pay that and based on that Gasper was able to get his old job back. I paid about $25AUD.

Because of Gasper’s relationship with his boss, he was able to get Stephen a job at the same school.

Well I did feel good about both being gainfully employed and that I had something to do with it.

I needed to set them up in Manila with a room and some food for the next 6 weeks until they go paid with the understanding that they would pay me back.

Enter Kenneth Buna, brother of Stephen and Gasper. Gasper obtained a job for him at the same school but as a janitor with accommodation. The accommodation I was told according to Gasper was not very good so Kenneth ended up moving into the same place as Stephen and Gasper.

Stephen appeared to enjoy his new life, he loved teaching dance, and he was selected to take a group of elementary kids to Cebu to participate in a contest. Whilst there, Stephen injured his ankle requiring hospitalization and an operation to fix the problem. He was unable to teach for a period and was not entitled to any compensation.

I then lost contact with Stephen.

Then one day, I got text message to say Stephen had been involved in a Jeepney accident and was in a critical condition at a local hospital. According to Stephen’s diary, I was listed as his next of kin. I made a number of phone calls to different authorities but was unable to confirm or deny what had happened. Gasper was on the spot and kept me up to date with what was happening. A couple of days on life support and a phone call from a surgeon and the life supports were removed. I paid for the removal of Stephen’s body to Malaybalay and for other funeral expenses. There is further story here involved with Gasper that will be discussed when I talk about Gasper. GASPER P BUNA JR

Some one used Stephen’s yahoo messenger but it was not Stephen and I thought that maybe information had fallen into the wrong hands and dismissed it all. I tried to make contact with the person that was using his messenger. It was neither Stephen, nor Gasper, but some one with much better English skills than either of them had.

About 3 months after Stephen was dead and buried, Stephen rose again from the dead, appeared on my yahoo messenger in his normal glory, and asked, “Can you help me?” Life is full of surprises and this was one. This posed many questions and many questions could not be answered. He claimed he did not know he was dead and buried. He claimed that he had no communication with Gasper since he left Manila and disliked Gasper because his values were different to his. Stephen was working on a chicken farm in the hills north of Davao, southern tip of the same Island of Mindanao, south of his hometown. How did he get there, he was vague about that too. It was a different Stephen I was talking to, he had undergone some changes, and it was Stephen as he was always on webcam so there were no doubts there.

I sent him some money so he could get out of that place and he ended obtaining a teaching job at TALISAYAN SCHOOL, a private elementary school, in the northern part of the island about 1 hour north of Cagayan de Oro. I had given him enough money for a room and some food until he was paid.

Stephen seemed settled there and I paid his tuition fees to go back to university part time to do a Masteral degree in teaching that would give him a better chance in employment. It seems teachers are not paid very well in Philippines.

One trip to Philippines I brought with me a whole pile of awards and certificates for his students so they could become better students with a little encouragement.

Then Stephen said that the school had not been paying him, 6 weeks went by and 2 months went by without income and he continued teaching, most westerners would have withdrew their services but not Stephen. He said other teachers were in the same situation.

Stephen asked me for a reference when he was applying for another teaching job at a Korean school in Cagayan de Oro. I suggested a reference from some one in another country would not serve any purpose. He insisted that it would, as I had known him for several years. He gave me the name of the school and the principal’s name. The school seemed like a bona bide school according to the website. I prepared a reference outlining how I knew Stephen and some of the traits I had found about him and emailed it off to the school. Stephen got the job and a healthy wage rise, but he did not take the job.

To supplement his income as a teacher he did some student tutoring and sold newspapers.

Finally, he was “laid off” from his school, and he moved to Cagayan de Oro searching for another job. Once again, I helped him find a place to live. He always said I was his mentor but that was when it suited him.

He once wanted me to help set him up in a business of renting musical instruments to students. I asked him to do a marketing plan showing me some costs and where his income was coming from. He was unable to do that. So that venture was never considered. I had helped him with an e-load cell phone business that did not work for whatever reason.

In Cagayan de Oro started selling newspapers to make ends meet until he started teaching again. Stephen will never make a businessman while I am around to help him out. Stephen is a scammer I am sorry to say, a lying cheater.  If he has money in his pocket, he will spend it. He cannot look past to day. He cannot plan his income for the year as teachers have 4 months holiday and are not paid for those holidays.

He wanted to start up a small shop and wanted some capital to do that. I guess it will snow in Cagayan de Oro before he gets working capital from this friend. I have sent him 279,766PHP in 3 years. Other people have sent him money as late as Sept 2009. This saying is stolen but it is true, “there is no fool like an old fool” like someone wanting to help someone.

STEPHEN PAMISA BUNA

Born 24 march 1983

Malaybalay, Mindanao, Philippines

hhtp://www.investigationphilippines.com

Rep. TJ Guingona of the 2nd District of Bukidnon has left the Nacionalista Party and reportedly setting to join Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas tandem of the Liberal party. According to the source of this information, the Bukidnon Online, the news came from an article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. However as I searched the said article, I couldnt find any link.

But anyway, if this is true then Rep. Guingona III has made a very good decision. What is he doing in the Nacionalista Party anyway? Rep. Guingona look liked a misfit in that trapo laden political party of Manny Villar. He would be more appropriate to join in the party where the son of the late President Corazon Aquino belong than that of Manny Villar. The Aquinos and the Guingonas share the same political principle since 1986. During the very first days of the Aquino presidency, Pres. Cory Aquino appointed Teofista Guingona Jr. as Chairman of the Commission on Audit. In the first senatorial elections in the post Marcos era in 1987, Teofista Guingona Jr. was one of the candidates of Cory’s party and won.

With Guingona III joining it, the Liberal Party’s presence in Bukidnon has become stronger in Bukidnon. Aside from Guingona, former 1st Dist. Rep. Nereus Acosta is already a longtime member of the LP.

***

One of the problems of the political opposition in Cagayan de Oro is that until now, there is no one who is strong enough to stand up and claim as a leader. Lawyer Joe Pallugna floated one and guess? Its Senator Nene Pimentel!

Nene can run for mayor

Feedback BY JOE PALLUGNA Updated October 7, 2009 12:00 AM

MY last column on the possibilities of the political landscape in Cagayan de Oro in the May 2010 elections generated varying reactions. Most agreed that it is a viable scenario.

And my political pundit continued to present another scenario for the political party which may be opposed to the camp of political kingpin Dongkoy Emano.

At the outset, it is almost an accepted fact that the political opposition in the city is plagued with the problem on who to field for the mayoral position. There is a dearth of candidates for the mayoral post because of the huge expense required to mount a serious campaign. There is also a clear lack of a willing candidate who would face the solid machinery of the Padayon Pilipino local party of Dongkoy Emano.

Ex-mayor Ambing Magtajas has reportedly declined to run for mayor again as he is contended with his retirement from politics. Ex-vice mayor Tony Soriano, a lawyer like Magtajas, is not bent on running due to the problem on political financing. Millions have to be raised to finance a sustained campaign.

So they are left with congressman Klarex Uy as a probable shoo-in candidate. But he would be most hesitant as the possibility of winning is remote while his run for a second congressional term would be more certain.

Then congressman Rufus Rodriguez would not even entertain the possibility of running for mayor as his reelection for the 2nd congressional district of Cagayan de Oro would also be a certain victory.

But there has to be a political slate for the opposition for the positions of mayor down to the kagawad posts. There must be a political set of candidates since there will be senatorial and presidential candidates. A structure of sorts has to be put up.

Koko Pimentel would also not run for the mayoral seat since his attempt for the senatorial seat almost succeeded in the last election that another attempt now would make it easier for him since name-recall is a factor now in his favor.

And since former councilors Juan Sia, Alvin Calingin and Pepe Abbu have gone back to the folds of Dongkoy Emano, the remaining opposition leaders who are incumbent city councilors like Roger Abaday, Bong Lao and Zaldy Ocon are not individually strong enough to politically challenge Dongkoy Emano.

Truth to tell, this is the first time that Cagayan de Oro City will not have a serious political opposition.
The only saving grace is Sen. Nene Pimentel who is on his last term as senator. He has nothing to lose if he makes a run for mayor of Cagayan de Oro.

I would say he has nothing to lose since the local political opposition is fragmented and leaderless. It is only Nene Pimentel who has the political influence, experience and clout to unite the opposition.

If the opposition loses, at least they would do so after a good fight. If the opposition wins then they would resurrect what is otherwise a dead campaign. And Nene Pimentel is the only credible and reliable opposition leader in this city. He could carry a presidential candidate with a slate for vice president and 12 senators.

If he could make a politically unknown son like Koko to rise into a senatorial candidate with winnable prospects, then he could very well revive the political opposition in Cagayan de Oro.

And the call for public service would not be left unheeded by Nene Pimentel. He could rally the political
opposition with avid followers and he could mount a campaign that would give a viable alternative for the voters of Cagayan de Oro.

I just hope that the political opposition can organize themselves and unite just in time for the May 2010 elections. Otherwise, they will stumble and fall in their own fragmented state.

Send feedback to joepallugna@ yahoo.com

***

Some of the proposed projects in Cagayan de Oro as posted in this site.

In 1571, a naval battle was fought between the Catholic Spaniards led by Don Juan of Austria against the Turkish fleet in Battle of Lepanto (others commemorate this as “La Naval”, hence the Our Lady of La Naval). In Rome, members of the Holy Rosary fraternity made a procession praying for the victory of the Spaniards. That is why the victory at Lepanto was attributed to the miracle of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

Pope Clement XI raised the commemoration of the feast to the Universal Church after the important victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary. Pope Leo XIIIhas since raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation “Queen of the Most Holy Rosary”. The Dominican pope, St. Pius V, did much to further the spread of the Rosary and it thereafter became one of the most popular devotions in Christendom. It was the same Pope St. Pius V, who in 1569 officially approved the Rosary in its present form with the Papal Bull, Consueverunt Romani Pontifices. It had been completed by the addition of the second half of the “Hail Mary” and the “Glory be to the Father” at the conclusion of each mystery.

Northern Mindanao Parishes commemorating the feast of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary today.

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Tipanoy, Iligan City
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Sagay, Camiguin
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Salawagan, Quezon, Bukidnon
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Damulog, Bukidnon
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Magallanes, Agusan del Norte
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Rosario, Agusan del Sur
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Bacuag, Surigao del Norte
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish – Gamut, Tago, Surigao del Sur

***

Its almost semestral break and also vacation for the All Saint’s Day. A lot of people will be travelling this coming days. I know how it is to travel during the passenger season especially also that Christmas is just a couple of months away. It would be very terrible and taxing for a traveller. I remember when I was still a student in one of the Visayan cities, traveling by sea needs steel nerves. You have to jostle for tickets and of course, the bus terminals, oh boy, its crowded and your once easy ride in the buses becomes like a crowded pilgrimage.

Anyway, I recommend people to ride Kinglong buses of the monopolistic Bachelor Express. Its clean, fast, efficient and has limited stop (5 stops at most). Their seats are large and very comfy. For sea craft, Trans Asia Shipping Lines has some sort of a Renaissance. Once hobbled by labor problems, its now reclaiming its premier place in the shipping industry. Its now parading new ships, foremost of which is Trans Asia 3 plying regularly the Cagayan de Oro-Cebu route and vice versa. It leaves at 8:00 in the evening and arrive at its destination at 4:00 in the morning. Its tourist class boasts of flat screen TV in every cubicle. The cubicles had four or two double deck beds. Its airconditioning units are brrrr…. very cold. Not to mention those leggy attendants.

It’s roofdeck features an al fresco eatery ala Nite Cafe serving barbecue and grilled chicken and other beverages.

Trans Asia has come back.

Bong Calingin, the former Governor of Misamis Oriental is likely to run again under the banner of Padayon Pilipino opposite Gov. Oca Moreno?

Naunsa? (What happened)

Bong has been beaten by Oca the last time around.  I dont think the outcome will differ this time especially now that Oca has implemented various projects in the province.  Bong’s association with charismatic Dongkoy Emano is not enough to convince voters to vote for him.

Thats why, the news said that several mayors allied with Padayon Pilipino are lukewarm about the proposal. Instead of gunning for Governor, why not recapture his old post at his hometown in Claveria?

And what is this Bong Calingin-Dongkoy Emano alliance? Again? This is another head shaking development in the Padayon Pilipino camp after the Juan Sia-Alvin Calingin 360 turnaround from opposition to Dongkoy’s arms again.

***

If Cris Diaz informant is correct, there will be four Lakas factions gunning for Congressman in the First District of Misamis Oriental.

These are:

Onyok Moreno-of Lakas- Moreno faction
Karen Lagbas of Lakas-Nograles faction
Michael Paderanga of Lakas Kampi Paderanga ticket
Peter Unabia of Lakas Emano faction

Earlier, it was said that Dongkoy Emano’s candidate is Karen Lagbas but with the news that Unabia and Cong. Bambi Emano were together going to Manila to seek Lakas blessing, the possibility of Unabia being Emano’s candidate is looming.

And Gingoog Mayor Ruthie Guingona is still not included into the equation.

***

Former Bukidnon First District Rep. Neric Acosta will run for Senator under the Liberal Party. So that will leave the First District of Bukidnon a battleground for incumbent Congressman Candido Pancrudo and Agriculture Undersecretary Jess Paras who is recently barnstorming the First District towns. Jess Paras is no doubt a moneyed politician. His family owns businesses such as Parasat, the Paras Beach Resort in Camiguin and the Paras Sea Cat, a fast craft serving Cagayan de Oro-Camiguin route. Pancrudo will be facing a formidable candidate.

***

Happy fiesta to the good people of Iligan City who are celebrating their fiesta today in honor of St. Michael, and the the Archangels. Happy Diyandi festival folks!

Neric Acosta and Jess Paras pics are courtesy of BukidnonOnline.Com

Liberal Party stalwarts Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas visited Bukidnon on September 26.

They visited several locations including the foot bath in Lorega, Kitaotao; Quezon, Maramag, and Malaybalay.

Aquino and Roxas were supposed to be on a four-province six-city swing since Friday, visiting Davao del Norte, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte  and the six cities therein.

But Aquino cut short his Mindanao visit, opting to take the early Sunday morning flight back to Manila to help mobilize support for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy.

While in Bukidnon, Aquino asked those who handed him coin banks and jars intended to be used for his campaign to instead use it for the flood victims. The crowd agreed to his plan, as MindaNews’ Carolyn Arguillas reported Sunday. Read her full report here.

(Liberal Party presidential standard bearer Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino is surrounded by supporters as he entered the bus terminal in the town of Maramag, Bukidnon Saturday. Aquino and running mate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas are on a four-province, six-city Mindanao visit since Friday. Photo by Froilan Gallardo)

The City Government of Malaybalay opened its controversial new public market on September 18 with simple rites amid uncertainties whether the two other phases of the P225-million project would push through.

A few food stalls have since operated in the public market as the city government has campaigned for occupants to the new public market, opened around two years late of its target opening of November 2007.

Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio T. Flores told MindaNews on September 4 the city government would open the market within the month of September following the expiration of a nine-month extension given to contractor H.R. Lopez Co. Inc. But only the first of the two-level public market building was operational.

The public market project has been subject to heavy criticism by the public on comments aired over radio station DXDB. Flores challenged his detractors to go to court if they have proof that indeed money changed hands in the project. He also broke his silence on the allegations the city government hired a contractor that ended up subcontracting the project to another firm. Read more of this at MindaNews.com.

I had so many posts planned for the many months past when my schedule and flow took a turn—in a very good and mostly fun way. I have been occupied with our wedding celebration, teaching and other projects, medical electives, mouse jogging through my studies, plus my occasional will of glorious procrastination to begin writing.

For those who gave me a-okay for my Media In Medicine series e-interviews, I hope they can still remember me when I start knocking on their email doors again with my finally-written down Qs. For those whose correspondence I am all too happy to receive but have not replied yet, I hope you won’t tire checking in and seeing if I have actually risen from my blog-grave yet. And, of course, thank you for reading.

Conference

A little over a year ago in May, I flew to the beautiful Kansas City, Missouri to attend INMED’s International Medicine Conference on Exploring Medical Missions at the University of Missouri Kansas City. It was a well-attended one with both medical and non-medical participants. As to medical conferences, INMED’s would be a good model of a modest and non-wasteful one. There was not much of the fancy schmancy swags we often find or expect in most medical conferences. And, the conference was still a hit sans good coffee.  A minute detail which can easily be fixed.

There were many exhibitors—medical mission sending organizations, financial groups, travel agents, hospitals, and even residency training programs. I’ve had the most interesting time meeting some of them and I had quite a few favorites.

My top 3 are:

Health Teams International (medical mission sending organization)

Mercy Ships (medical mission ship and sending organization)

Spanish Plus (Spanish language lessons for health care) The founder, Gene Flanery, hit home when he spoke Cebuano. It turns out he has lived as a missionary in the Philippines for 5 years in the past.

After the conference, I got together with a good friend, whom I have not seen after so many years. I was also very happy to see her again and another friend of ours in my wedding later on after this.

This was taken in one of our stops for that day, Kansas Zoo, on a Segway.

After I’ve almost fallen splat on concrete

for being overzealous with this awesome ride,

I’d say this is the coolest thing.

I surely would not mind having one.

Revisits

This conference brought me back to the summer of 1996 when I was still a pre-medical student in the Philippines. That was the time in life when I had one of the most valuable human experience that blessed my being with a wonderful new dimension and awakening. It was the time when I crossed the threshold which soon ushered me into more medical missions thereafter. It was in medical mission trips where I met many of the most wonderful people I know now. Some of them have become good friends who I still keep in touch with from time to time and some have remained a happy memory.

In another post, I will share more stories about that summer of 1996 in the mountains and barrios of Bukidnon in southern Philippines.

For now, here’s a couple of photos of a friend from that summer. We met again in New York quite recently, after so many years since our summer “adventure” and then again in Mexico for my wedding celebration after that.

Later that day, also in New York, we met another old Summer Immersion friend who lives nearby.  A special treat for the three of us on that same day was a visit to his apartment where he still kept his old Bukidnon album (I guess we all had a certain version of this deeply memorable time). We crazily  scanned through some old photos and lived a moment of belly aches reading some of the old notes and messages that were delivered to one another by foot from one mountain barrio to another. I am so glad to know that our friend brought all that with him across the Pacific. I so willingly almost died laughing while we reminisced some of our insane and funny moments in the mountains that summer.

—

If I had kept a photo, I would also put up another memory I have with another friend I caught up with in Thailand in 2006 where she was doing a human rights project visit. This friend is among the very first friends I met on the first day of college.

Like the NPR story I linked to here on friendships made on the first semester of college, some friends I made from that phase in my life (together with our bit of extended associations) have indeed become amongst my enduring friends. This, no matter where life throws us around the globe.

Here is a photo with another friend whom I have also met in the first semester of college. We were in an island called Boracay in the Philippines for her wedding in 2007.

These are just a few photographs celebrating the paths crossed with folks and with these friends who continue to inspire me on many levels. I carry more inside of me and they will easily spill over this tiny space. It will never be enough. These are just some of the reasons why I celebrate journeys. The conference reminded me so much of these precious times in my life.

Timeless

The soul of international medicine (medical missions) and celebrating the beauty of life through meaningful friendships and meaningful work is not too far in color and flavor. In medical missions—it is in living and celebrating this journey by meaningful connection through humble service to those who otherwise might not have a chance to receive it. In friendships, it is in living and celebrating this journey by meaningful connections made while honoring and enjoying one another’s unique selves. Both circumstances are accounts of timeless moments.

This conference made me remember all these precious times and look forward to more of life’s journeys—living with meaning, pushing boundaries, and getting in touch with the ideal in the hopes of fulfilling a certain purpose while making me remember the very things that I celebrate about in my life.

The conference also allowed me to revisit many aspects and dimensions of myself. The complexity yet the simplicity of a dream I hope to be able to live not too long from now. Nothing grand. Nothing fancy. Just simple alignment of resource, intent, and purpose. To find my place, though small but hopefully meaningful, in this bigger world.

I have a long way to go…

somewhere in Bukidnon

I have been travelling the span of Northern Mindanao for years. One thing that cannot escape my attention are barangays (villages) that starts with prefix “ki” (which I think means “of”) that dotted the towns along the highway. From Magsaysay all the way to Cagayan de Oro the “ki” barangays just pop out every now and then.

So I made my research and I was stunned the overwhelming number of so called “ki” barangays.

P.S. Wala lang koy lingaw. ( I have nothing to occupy myself)

Magsaysay (Misamis Oriental)

Kibungsod

Gingoog City

• Kibuging
• Kipuntos

Kinoguitan

Kitotok

Sugbongcogon

Kidampas
Kiraging

Binuangan

• Kitamban
• Kitambis

Balingasag

Kibanban

Jasaan

Kimaya

Villanueva

Kimaya

El Salvador

Kibonbon

Libertad

Kimalok

Laguindingan

Kibaghot

Gitagum

Kilangit

Damulog (Bukidnon Province)

• Kinapat
• Kiraon
• Kitingting

Dangcagan

Kianggat

Don Carlos

• Kiara
• Kibatang

Impasug ong

Kibenton

Kadingilan

Kibalagon

Kalilangan

• Kibaning
• Kinura

Kibawe

• Kiorao
• Kisawa

Kitaotao

• Kimolong
• Kitaihon
• Kitubo

Lantapan

Kibangay

Libona

Kiliog
Kinawe

Malitbog

Kiabo

Maramag

Kisanday

Pangantucan

• Kimanait
• Kipadukan

Quezon

• Kiburiao
• Kipaypayon

San Fernando

Kibongcog

The proclamation of the Liberal Party powerhouse tandem of Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas overwhelms everybody specially the administration party.  Right after the proclamation, Speaker Prospero Nograles urged the Liberal Party duo not to use as a campaign platform attacking the government. What Nograles wants is that the parameters of the 2010 elections must be based on achievements and performance rather than pointing to the past. This same stance was echoed by Secretary Ronnie Puno who said “I believe that any campaign that will be premised on acts of retribution, on going to the past, is not going to succeed. I believe, over and above, in proving our sincerity to be in public office. We have to prove and show our people that the direction in which we wish to take them is the correct one, that their future and the future of their children are safe in our hands. If we cannot do that, then we deserve to lose.”

Nograles has no right to tell what the opposition will do.  He cannot dictate how the opposition will conduct its campaign.  If Nograles believes that his administration is doing the right thing then, he must be ready to defend it.  Pardon me but Nograles’ tenor shows the fear of the administration party to be asked for an explanation how they run this country under Gloria Arroyo. If he believes Arroyo is doing fine, then he should welcome the so called “attacks” coming from the opposition.

The same with Puno. People must be reminded of the past to avoid being victimized again in the future. People must be remembered how boastful the Arroyo administration is in pushing for illegal acts when it is still at the height of  its power.  People must be reminded of Hello Garci scandal , EO 464, the Calibrated Protest Response,  the NBN-ZTE scandal,  the No Permit, No rally scheme, the Fertilizer scam, the failed impeachment attempts and the accompanying Payola scandal, the bogus impeachment filed by Oliver Lozano to innoculate Gloria Arroyo and a host of other indignities committed against the Filipino people.

These are the issues that must be echoed and emphasize come election time.

Basically, election is explaining time.  After 9 years of administration, the people through the opposition candidate is asking an accounting of the deeds of the Arroyo administration. Nograles and company would better be able to have ready satisfactory answers.

***

The administration is also trying a creative track to upend Noynoy Aquino’s popularity.  In one of the headlines in today’s paper, it was said that Gilbert Teodoro has more achievements than Noynoy.  There is also this suggestion that Noynoy and Gibo will faceoff each other in a debate.

No doubt, Gilbert Teodoro have more to show than Noynoy Aquino. Being a bar topnotcher is no mean feat. But then again, we are not going to judge whether a person is a good presidential material on the basis of eloquence.   The Presidency is not about how one is a good debater.  Its all about sincerity in public service. Its also  about protecting our national interest and advancing our aspiration as a people as enshrined in our Constitution. What if Gibo will turn out a better debater than Noynoy, do you think it will make him a good President later on?   People must not be swayed by one’s eloquence. That is irrelevant in governance.

This early, its quite disturbing that Gibo Teodoro is apparently courting the support of the United States in his presidential bid by declaring he will support the renewal of the Visiting Forces Agreement.  This month, he is also visiting the United States and reminisce his personal relations and attachments to America. What Gibo Teodoro seems to be doing was to court the support of the Americans for his presidential run.  In other words, naging sipsip siya sa mga Kano. If that will happen what kind of foreign policy do we have in case Gibo wins. Worse, the USA may practically be the real government reducing our very own Gibo as a “yes” man.

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Governor Zubiri seems to object the bill authored by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez for the creation of Cagayan de Oro River Basin Authority.  From what I understand, the bill would formulate policies and plan of action for the management of Cagayan de Oro river which has becoming a catch basin for waters coming from Kitanglad river systems and the Kalatungan mountain rivers.  Governor Zubiri somehow expressed that they should not be dictated on what to do.

Perhaps, Congressman Rodriguez failed to make proper representations for the provincial government of neighboring Bukidnon that somehow leads to this confusion.

However, a plea to Bukidnon leaders.  Please be considerate to your lowland neighbors.  When heavy rains come, people living near the banks are racing each other going to the roofs to evade the rampaging flood waters coming from the mountains of Bukidnon.

This is not about encroaching on ones jurisdiction. Basically, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro is one in this issue as both are affected by the dynamics of this related river system tranversing both locations.

For more on this read BenCyrus Ellorin’s  Eco-Region, Law of Gravity and Homopolitikus

Here’s an excerpt:

IT is unfortunate that the provincial government of Bukidnon is raising hell on the proposed law in the House of Representatives creating the Cagayan de Oro River Basin Authority.

In expressing opposition to the legislative measure introduced by Cagayan de Oro second district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri was quoted as saying “We can manage our own resources and we do not need to be dictated upon.”

This comment is a little off-beat for it repudiates a very basic natural law called the law of gravity.

I would suggest that the good Cagayan de Oro congressman and the good governor of Bukidnon sit down in some cool and cozy place and talk things over.

My understanding of House Bill 5908 is to share responsibility and harmonize the management and development of  the natural resources that flow in the Cagayan de Oro river from the streams and creeks in the Mount Kitanglad range in the heart of Bukidnon and from the Kalatungan Mountain range in the Bukidnon-Lanao areas.

This measure is long time coming and no doubt an urgent one. The floods that hit Cagayan de Oro City the regional and economic hub of Northern Mindanao in January this year made the issue of rationalizing the management of the Cagayan de Oro River Basin or watershed very compelling.

Congressman Rufus may not need to kneel down to the kingpin of Bukidnon in order to win his support for the measure. Perhaps a little explanation on the law of gravity and the basic characteristic of water to seek its own level thus the need rush to the sea or lakes may do.

There is no doubt the esteemed political leaders of Bukidnon know how to manage their own resources and I don’t think the proposed law of Congressman Rufus is in anyway dictating on the political wisdom of the landed political elites of Bukidnon.

It is meant, I understand, to keep Cagayan de Oro out of floodwaters so that the rich people of Bukidnon can enjoy shopping and nightlife in the city and also so that their children can comfortably study in the universities in the city.

In a column I wrote in January this year, just as Cagayan de Oro City was drowned in floodwaters, I have  suggested among others the following (Fastlanes: Floods mostly man-made, January 18, 2009)

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There are pervading talks that Atty. Constantino “Banjo” Navarro III is being groomed by some groups to run opposite incumbent Congressman Francisco Matugas in District I of Surigao del Norte.  This despite the fact that his brother, Del Carmen Mayor Constantino “Bully” Navarro IV, the President of the League of Municipalities of Surigao del Norte, is an ally of Matugas.

Ironically, the same group that is urging Banjo to run are the same people who worked against his father, former Congressman Constantino “Baby” Navarro Jr. by campaigning in favor of his father’s opponent, Congresswoman Glenda B. Ecleo in the past elections.

After bringing the downfall of the Navarros in the past, the same group is approaching the younger Navarro to run against a good friend and an ally in Rep. Matugas.  Will Navarro cave in to the wishes of the very same people who brought the downfall of his father?

Rural groups slam Teodoro’s disposal of 10K hectares of land for rubber plantation project

Four of the biggest rural based groups in the country– the activist peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pamalakaya, the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and the Amihan peasant women federation on Wednesday questioned the move of Defense Secretary and Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro to lease 10,000 hectares of prime agricultural lands in Bukidnon province for a rubber plantation project.

The 10,000 hectares set aside for rubber plantation is part of the 42,000 hectare military reservation in the province, The project which will cost P 72-million is in joint partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA), but the defense and the agriculture departments did not divulge the name of the investor on the rubber plantation project.

Apart from rubber, the cash crops like corn and coffee are also considered to be planted in the 10,000 hectare plantation.

“The project is highly irregular, patently illegal and grossly immoral. The AFP has no right to engage in the selling and disposal of prime agricultural lands. The military reservation should have been distributed to landless farmers and jobless farmworkers, but the AFP is keeping it as their own private property exactly similar to what warlords and big landlords are doing in Mindanao,” the groups said in a joint statement.

KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos reminded Secretary Teodoro that the prime agricultural lands do not belong the military but to the Filipino farmers and the general public, and he has no right to act like big landlord or real estate operator.

Ramos also lambasted the silence of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Nasser Pangandaman on the AFP-DA 10,000 hectare rubber plantation deal.

“It seems to us this DND-DA project has the seal of approval of the Office of the President and the office of Mr. Pangandaman. This transaction is treated like a best kept secret among officials of the AFP, the agriculture department and the of course, the office of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the agrarian reform department,” he said.

For his part, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap assailed Secretary Teodoro for endorsing the anomalous rubber plantation project, adding that he and and agriculture secretary Arthur Yap acted as brokers of the highly anomalous landgrabbing deal.

“We want honest-to-goodness explanations from Teodoro and Yap. They cannot get away with this latest agrarian crime. They must be held accountable for this anti-farmer deal,” added Hicap.

The Pamalakaya leader said the sell out of 10,000 hectares of prime agricultural lands inside the military reservation in Bukidnon is a preview of what a Teodoro presidency has to offer. “We will continue to lose this country to all time landgrabbers, real estate speculators and foreign and domestic landed monopolies,” Hicap said.

Representatives of DA and AFP are set to sign a memorandum of agreement in mid-September upon completion of project documents such as project proposal and area development plan. The project is envisioned to provide livelihood to people residing close or within the military reservation.

The project according to AFP will showcase production technology for rubber and other agricultural products. The military said the project will also serve as template for the development of other military reservations such as Tumandok military reservation in Panay Island and the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

The project will tap the services of engineering brigade of the AFP based in Bukidnon to help building access roads to the plantation and put up facilities such as irrigations systems. Secretary Teodoro is optimistic the project would promote the government’s peace and development programs in Bukidnon and other parts of Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the spokespersons of Amihan peasant women federation and UMA said Congress should investigate this emerging trend in t he agrarian homefront, where the military is dispatching thousands of hectares of lands inside military reservations for business purposes.

Amihan spokesperson Zen Soriano and UMA media officer Jay Calaguing in a joint statement said lawmakers should look into the alleged real estate activities of Secretary Teodoro and other military officials encouraging the disposal of public lands inside military reservations to big agri-business corporations and other big ticket ventures.

“The auctioning of prime agricultural lands inside military reservations for business adventures negate the true essence of genuine agrarian reform and social justice in the country. This practice should be stopped and let farmers acquire these lands inside military reservations under a free land distribution scheme,” they said. #

I couldnt really begin to describe what a perfect and overwhelming feeling it is to be in Bukidon. Yesterday, we and some media groups in the city were invited and gathered to witness and experience the soft launching of ZipZone at Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich Bukidnon where nests the longest dual cable zipline in Asia!

I was like, hoooo my gaaad! This is it! I have started ziplining in Waig Crystal Spring Resort when we were invited to feature the place some months ago. It was actually my first zipline experience and probably the scariest so far. Those were fears I didn’t I know I had. I was shaking, hasty and scared. But I was able to come of it alive so I thought I’d be up for another ziplining challenge.

 Few weeks ago, a new tourist destination called the Lasang Secret Adventure, sitting at the borders of Initao and Libertad Misamis Oriental opened. And as usual, we were there. The 80ft spiral staircase and five hanging bridges proved that I wasn’t entirely afraid of heights, I just get dizzy though. So I tried their zipline yet again, this time you have to willingly throw yourself off to see the fun.

This time, we went to Bukidnon where we got lost for several times, amazed at the rest houses that looked liked cottages, the trees, the landscape…the flowers; put some snow it would be a different place altogether. The wind bites welcomingly into the skin, even sun’s warmth was gentle. It had looked like a postcard coming to life.

When we finally managed to get to Dahilayan Adventure Park where we were welcomed by the friendly Paras Family, we also got to try the 300m zipline first. It looked awfully long, and just looking at people ziplining made me swear at how fun it looked. Rabbi, Mr. Elpie Paras’ son-in-law explained to us how safe the zipline was. We were one of the first 50 who got to try this adventure!:)

Ok then, let’s try it guys!

From the 300m zipline, we ziplined another 100m and waited for our safari ride! The five minute ride took us to a higher elevation where the 840m dual cable zipline was located. The receiving end looked so small and if you’re wearing green, chances are you wouldn’t be seen in the photos since you will be ziplining just a few feet above the trees. The elevation was 4500ft above sea level, speed is 60-80kph, and you will get at the landing area for less than a minute. Depending on how much you weight, you will probably be bouncing off at the landing area if you have a body like mine:) I’ve seen some tourist zipline first and they said that your P400 peso is so worth the experience (either you scream, you shit your pants, or you laugh).

Anyway, I’d be going there once again when chances arise. The experience was just so like Fear Factor it gave me confidence to try more challenging stuff. Thanks to the Paras family for the fun: Xantia, Mr. Paras’ grand daughter was so cute, his daughters were accomodating and Mr. Paras himself became our official photographer:)

Thank you po, we had a grand time:)