MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: janjan on March 26, 2009, 11:32:57 AM
oh mora lagi pud ug japanese na ug byuti ka sir benelyne

matingala bitaw sila sa airport nganong green akong passport

Quote from: ms da binsi on March 26, 2009, 11:23:43 AM
Bene san mo balik na sa Bread ni Tiya Grasi! hahahhaa

Huy you look good in your avatar! you looked fit my friend!

now is that hot enough? (jawk)

hahahhaha

ps. yeah you look good, i mean it!

Hi Belle,

Namula man akong agtang nimo uy, ug niinit kalit, hot as in gihilantan!

But talking about hot, your lips can give Angelina Jolie a run for her money!

The Road, istoryahi unya ko kung ok na. Is that also hot, as in the bestseller's list?

This is Bohol's version of Yellow Journalism. 'Yellow' for the color of the urinal water thrown on dissenting mediamen.

English seems to be a hot topic here.

In some forums, a topic is classified hot when there are more than 20 replies in the thread.

I see a lot of people getting hot when a moderator strikes off a comment.

Some are too hot they reply to a topic without even thinking first.

Then again, some topics here are too hot to handle in public and are better left off in the bedroom. Maniid na lang ang mga shy.

When Gretchen Barretto visited town with an unidentified male companion (si Rustom daw), it became hot gossip even here.

Some avatars are too hot--I wonder if the person behind it is as hot?

A Japanese studying English once asked me, is the sensation of having your tongue scalded by boiling soup the same as eating chili pepper? When I replied not really, he followed it up with, "Why do you say hot for both soup and chili?"

****
And they say English is hot because it is a rich language. Still, I wonder why they use only one word to mean so many things.

Hi Prescilla,

I salute you for this initiative. As a foreigner living in Japan, I also find having an organized group a big advantage in terms of having our voice heard, conveying our concerns to authorities, exchanging tips on daily living and safety, etc.

I believe that living a low-key lifestyle, studying and respecting local culture and norms, showing social courtesy without being too chummy, avoiding situations of personal conflict, and taking reasonable personal precaution in one's daily conduct will keep us from harm's way. Of course, a generous dose of prayers will also go a long way.

Remember that your concerns are also ours, and we have more at stake because for better of for worse Bohol is our hometown. That is why we fervently pray that you will succeed in your initiative and that the government will hear your voice and pay heed to the security concerns of the community.

I am sorry to interject with this off-topic comment.

Filipino and Boholano readers are more familiar with the word "man" or "male" than the informal British word "bloke."  I think the use of formal language would at least give the dead the respect due him, given the indignity of his death.

Even where I am, where the justice system is well-respected, it is hard to get people to testify in crimes, unless they are closely related to the victim or have an overriding interest in having the crime solved.

That is why the pursuit of crimininals, the search for leads and the gathering of evidence are tasks that fall largely in the hands of the police, which are sometimes criticized for being inordinately intrusive and meticulous but are generally highly respected.

What complicates the recent cases in Tagbilaran is the fear that if you are rich enough to hire somebody to fell a rich man, as in the case of Taray, you can do the same to any Juan de la Cruz who dares to point you out. (I was surprised that you could actually pay someone a piddling PESO 15,000 to kill somebody, as a recent case in neighboring Cebu shows.)

In the more recent case, based on Pnp's account, Englishman Martin seems to have had previous run-ins with the Panglao police (the vaunted 'tourist police'), the very same persons we expect to solve these crimes.

Interestingly, Panglao is such a small place to be coddling such elusive criminals that even the 5-year-old case of Vivian Dumaluan is still in limbo.

Unless we see a decisive action and a dramatic resolution of these cases anytime soon, Bohol will soon lose its luster as a tourist haven and become a haven for criminals instead.

Kalooy nato!

Two high-profile murders in the span of one month! They have not even caught the culprit in Taray's murder yet, and nobody's stepping forward to testify.

There is no use in building Panglao airport and upgrading tourist facilities if we cannot even provide basic security for residents and tourists. And I thought Bohol PNP is one of the most acclaimed units in the country, Bohol being designated as the training area for SWAT.

Whoever they are in private--whether or not they entered into transactions or committed actions that aroused anger and animosity--Taray and Martin did not deserve this kind of death.

This is sickening. Bohol is no longer the peaceful haven that we know.

Quote from: extrafort on March 23, 2009, 01:00:24 AM
it's because we are so different that we have so much to share.

i learned this saying in school. it was so populated with students from different walks of life.
thus, debates, argument, conflicts and misunderstanding were very common. our teachers did a phenomenal job, though, to keep the classrooms alive and conducive for learning in a friendly atmosphere. they never let those differences take the best out of us. instead they guided us to use them for constructive purposes. it was the time to grow then how to learn to LISTEN to people and be SENSITIVE with other's feelings without losing the fixture of individuality in one hand and without forgetting the invaluable sense of community in the other. so the wisdom of sharing each individuality is what pushed us forward; and the mindful respect of the people around me, to whom i belonged, is what bonded us together in one ground, at the same level and same breath.

needless to say there were always people who wouldn't be happy no matter what we did in a generous way. we never said goodbyes to them. we always reminded ourselves each of us have our own lives and there are just so much we can do to relate to them. thanks TB people. i'll talk to you next time around. hopefully to argue with a listening heart.

so far, this comment is the only gem of a needle i found in a haystack of tangled emotions.

let's just follow the basic rule of civility in this forum: let's agree to disagree, but do it with grace and courtesy.

Quote from: ayessa on March 21, 2009, 10:13:57 PM
There will always be clash of personalities here.  If I am being attacked, I  will attack back and I dont care.

If they slap me on the right side, they will lose their heads.

If they throw stones on me, I would throw a bomb back.

So do not provoke me.

I'm totally out of the loop here. Has Arlene Karaan signed up to TB? There should be a way to flag statements that are potentially offensive, derogatory, defamatory, false, etc. and a quorum of admins can decide and act on them.

...the media before the emegence of the internet is high above their ivory towers. They are untouchable until there is a libel suit against them in court. If I am not mistaken the Philippine is one among the highest numbers of brutal killings of mediamen in the world.

Isn't this statement contradictory? If the media is untouchable, why are so many mediamen brutally killed? In a properly functioning democratic society, libel suits should be the only Damocles' sword hanging over journalists to keep them in line with the tenets of truth, integrity and objectivity required by their profession. But in our country, murder and undue harrassment are the grimmer threats hounding journalists.

I think the right of the media to publish the news is balanced by their duty to be responsible.
The media is responsible only for the truth, and not in behalf of anybody. Ensuring freedom of press will make the media a clearinghouse of issues that will bring to light the scurrilous and the mercenary. The law can deal with legal lapses of the media like defamation and misrepresentation, and the reading public can deal with its excesses such as unbalanced and prejudicial writeups through public censure and withdrawal of patronage.

In my observation we are the only nation in the world making the issue of graft and corruption against our political leaders.
Even in the more polite and self-restrained media of Japan, political leaders are criticized of graft and corruption, not to mention, inpetitude, daily.

The scandal of the AIG bonuses for its employees and officials are all over the media in the US but not a single media practitioner ever dared to raise these as corruption issue. Why? The answer is because it is not corruption.

The issue of the AIG bonuses is not raised as an issue of corruption against the government because first, it is an act committed by the private sector, and at this point in time, no government official has been indentified as having benefited from it (unlike the issue of Legacy, etc.)

I think it is not fair and right to blame the media for our social ills. For all its imperfections, the media only chronicles and reflects the dynamics of our society, and brings into the fore issues that the public ought to pay attention to. Some issues it raises turn out to be flippant and even downright false, but the free and open press has a self-corrective mechanism. As the Fourth Estate, the media strengthens the healthy functioning of checks and balances in our society. By and large, the free media is the first to acknowledge that one's freedom ends where another one's freedom begins.

Happy birthday! May you have many many more years to come!

Be Careful How You List Names On Your Cell Phone..

Be careful how you list names on your cell phone!
A lady friend has changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag which contained her mobile, Credit card, purse...etc. ... was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her Hubby from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, "I've just received your text asking about our pin number and I've replied a little
while ago."

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The pickpocket had actually used the stolen hand phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from the bank account.

Moral Lesson:

1.  Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, sweetheart, Dad, Mum etc.......

2.  And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts/SMS, CONFIRM by calling back.

3.  Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet "family and friends" who texted you.

calle,

a toast of o-sake to you, my friend

The mass migration of Filipinos overseas--among those are we who now find a virtual Boholandia here at TB--cannot be attributed to the discontinuity of Marcos' industrialization policy by his successors, as WN implies. For his successors in fact embraced globalization and direct foreign investments with even more fervor than Marcos did... Just look at Ramos and even PGMA.

The trigger for mass migration was the Oil Shock of 1979 in the wake of the Iran Revolution. Without local oil sources and limited dollar revenues from export, Marcos turned to overseas labor market to boost our dollar reserve. It was also during this period that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations dramatically increased their production capacity, needing more manpower from overseas like the Philippines.

But the dollar windfall from OFW remittances was too good to forgo. So what was meant to be a stopgap measure was instituted as a pillar of our economic policy, long after oil prices have gone down.

A few comments to WN's astute observations:

While Marcos irrefutably put in place social infrastructure and industrial policy orientation that brought us a measure of prosperity, at least for a while, this could not be sustained because he increasingly concentrated political power to his office and shunted transparency and democratic accountability aside.

Martial Law was meant to be a stopgap, emergency measure to rein in insurgency. But the shield of invincibility it gave him against his political enemies induced him to extend it beyond its reasonable limits.

After the goal of suppressing leftist insurgency and other threats to government had been achieved, he should have voluntarily restored the political space for the opposition to participate. As it were, he allowed opposition to percolate with very little outlet for expression within the democratic arena. The massacre of Ninoy Aquino seems to me like the inevitable, logical end of such highhanded politics.

Only for that day, kay nalipong man daw si Daarol sa smell so di na siya maka-anchor sa iyang programa.

It means 10 thousand yen bill (about 5000 pesos) that doesn't fit the width of Philippine-made wallets kay lapad ra man.

Quote from: ms da binsi on March 09, 2009, 11:51:48 AM
Bene san last year from spring to summer nagka hay fever jud ko! pagka paita kaayo!

Mao ni hitsura sa amoa ganiha...pwerteng bunok sa uwan, nag kisdom ang kalangitan. Karon alas 12 na sa gabii nag snow na sad! Huy Ginoo ang kalibutan gi ango2x na jud!

Hi Belle,

Bilib gyud ko sa imong abilidad sa lens. You make winter look like a postcard. I used to love winter photos when I was a child. Pero kung nia ka na diay dire, maka-depress man...

Bitaw, glacier, napaundang gud niya ang airing sa programa ni Daarol. Motto ni Karaan, when words fail, try smell.

I think this word will retain its negative nuance, even if it is not as frequently used as before.

WE've had many leaders since we ousted Marcos, and yet we have barely budged from the ills of our society.

Corruption is at its worst, poverty festers, Muslim Mindanao still rages, political executions and street crimes surge. We have transformed Marcos' stopgap measure of exporting labor into the mainstay of our economic policy.

We have to realize that leadership is after all a mirror of the people that installs it. Marcos is dead for more than two decades. Historical witch-hunting among our leaders will do us no good if it only gives us a sense of being absolved from our own complicity as citizens. The social ills we're facing now are not his ghosts haunting us, but the work of the living.

Quote from: apothecary on March 09, 2009, 04:29:12 PM
As it turned out, when there's uncontrollable fire, filthy water will do. Murag Fire prevention month ha?

To me, it's like dousing water on the porch when the fire is in the kitchen.

Maybe Karaan had something symbolic on her mind. Basig naa siya'y pagka-poet. If she got that septic waste from the City Hall toilet and brought it all the way to DYTR, she probably wanted to tell Daarol, "You media men stink as badly as us. Here, get a dose of your own smell."

The term is almost outdated.

Japayuki, like many other words suddenly finding currency in mainstream language, was coined to capture the emergence of a social phenomenon, namely the influx of young Filipina entertainers to Japan throughout most of the 90s up to about three years ago when kogyo (entertainment) visa was practically banned.

At its peak, 100,000 young Filipinas, some pre-legal, streamed to Japan every year to provide relaxation and entertainment to hardworking Japanese salary-men, many at company expense.

In the Japanese language, if you add -yuki to the name of a place as a suffix, like Tokyo-yuki or Osaka-yuki, it means bound for that place.

But clearly, Japayuki was intended from the start as a word with a negative nuance to refer to the young Filipinas coming to Japan to ply their trade at night. A more neutral word would be Nippon-yuki, or Nihon-yuki, but this never gained currency in the mass media or in everyday language.

There was a time when the word became so widely associated with Filipinos that when I introduced myself, people would invariably ask, "Which band or which club do you work for?"

Now, the word is fading into obsolescence, thanks to the immigration law that upgraded the entertainment profession into some kind of highly skilled trade. You should present a diploma from an internationally accredited entertainment school to be able to qualify as one. Many of the so-called Japayukis have dissolved into Japanese society as ordinary housewives. The last four years have seen a dramatic spike in Filipino-Japanese marriages, real or arranged, as entertainers faced prospects of not having their 3 to 6-month contracts renewed under the new regulation.

These days, you seldom hear the word hereabouts.

Erratic kaayo ang weather dire sa Japan. The other day was very sunny, the next day was wet, and today it's just gloomy. I used to love spring, but since I got hay fever (they call it here kafunsho or pollen allergy), I really dread this season. I'm still looking forward to the cherry blossoms, whose pollen is not as vicious as cedars'.

Hi Lorenzo,

Our church is interdenominational, consisting of people from different religious backgrounds--Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Catholics, etc. I myself took eight years of my education under the Jesuits.

God, whose creation is myriad, is glorified by our diverse worship. Only if we look to Him, in whom we are all one, instead of to us, who are all created differently, can we all sing with one voice in praise.

If you have time, please check out our website at http://ibarakichristians.net/

God bless, Lorenzo. God shines through you!

hi glacier,

i was really interested in the lyrics of this song, thanks! it's michael's own version of that old line "the child is the father of the man."

i know someone of such an incisive mind as you would not condone uncivilized behavior for any reason.

I love this song! This was one of the worship song collections we sang at the video clip I posted in this forum.

Check out http://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=13376.0

Hi GEC, glacier,

Who would you have hold the mike to sing this song--Karaan, Daarol or Lim? Or everyone, including you and me?

We should just let Michael Jackson sing this song, he who begs for indulgence in the foul-ups he has made of his life as an adult.

We are more than the sum-total of our past. As Stephen Covey says, we don't have to accept the script handed down to us.

Maayo pa man gani ang mga bata kay ug mag-away, tubig ray isablig. Pero si Karaan, gikan man jud sa kasilyas nga tubig! I am sure she had a childhood trauma, but if she is a self-willing, intelligent being enough to earn an accounting degree and get the job counting money at the mayor's office, she has no excuse not to overcome whatever foul experiences she must have had as a child.

With so many "insular" minds in Bohol, we really need someone like you who could work from the grassroots for cohesive action.

By the above, I mean Media being the Fourth Estate should pursue only the truth, and not twist it to give favor to any political agenda.

Politicians should allow the Media to do its work as a disinterested party to enhance the workings of a check-and-balance system that is needed in a healthy democracy.

Hi Precious,

Thanks for giving us a bigger picture of this event. It's shocking how media can give different slants to the same incident... Media should not play politics, and politicians should not fiddle with media. Busa magbinanggaay kay manghilabot man sa teritoryo sa matag usa (Translation: This head-on collision is inevitable because both sides are stepping on each other's turf.)

I thought it's only boxing that Mayor Dan Lim patronizes? Now he's also into mudfight! Unless he cleans up his name in this mess, it will forever be linked to the drainage issue and the septic splash on his media critic... Talking about politics being dirty, I think they should start counting coliform not only in Tagbilaran Bay but also in the city hall.

Some die too young, near their peak and prime, that leaves us wishing we could still see their best days. I'm just wondering if Aya a.k.a. Orchids were still living, what obra maestra would we have been treated to right now? On the other hand, some people die too old, making us wish they would not have to live beyond the comforts of a full life. As for me, I simply believe that when I do check out, God knows it's the best and only time.

While I really wish for this child to just add one more language--Japanese--to his verbal stock, whizz kids should just be allowed to live normal lives.

I've heard of child under-achievers like Albert Einstein or dropouts like Bill Gates make it big later in their lives, but I've yet to hear of a wonder kid make a climactic big bang in his career as an adult.

I guess kids like these are weighed down by heavy expectations as they grow up, and so few end up with much success.

I wonder how anybody can defend such a foul act under any circumstances. I wonder why Karaan is still allowed to report to work. I wonder why the mayor, who should have been embarrassed by the blatant misdemeanor of his underling and imposed appropriate sanction on her, is instead defending her...

It seems to me that behind this incident, there is something more foul-smelling than the septic waste thrown at Daarol...

Jun, your contribution towards these endeavors is certainly much anticipated.

Quote from: aduy on March 06, 2009, 04:20:42 AM
sana? pero dapat panatilihing maayos ang peace and order at tsaka yong problema sa potable water dapat maiayos.

Oo nga, mahirap tumalon sa malalaking bagay, kung ang mga maliliit hindi pa ayos. Hanggang ngayon problema pa rin drainage, garbage disposal, access road to Panglao and even within the city... There should be a coherent city plan para the little things will be made to jibe with the big picture.

He's just my age. I feel for the eight children who have lost a father.

Kinsa ba tung nag-ingon nga raffle lang ang kinabuhi, si Ayessa man tingali? But unlike the lotto, in death, we all certainly will be drawn at some point.

Quote from: aduy on March 06, 2009, 06:08:48 PM
Nice pix. more please.

Wa pa naku na-upload ang uban. Invite na lang nato ang uban nga naay pics. Kaning last naku nakuha shows that the hills are not uniformly "choco" or cone-shaped but there are also humpback or murag conjoined hills.

My kids with the Pizza man. The stone characters did seem odd and unnatural.



And the Norfolk pine that lined the path to the Kidstown also seemed out of place.

That's the Cafe Baudillo, and below it is the Butterfly Dome. This was taken from the west-side viewing deck.

Quote from: ayessa on March 06, 2009, 05:55:42 PM
you have pics of the Sagbayan peak with its facilities?

Let me post some. This is the Water Park.

The perspective in Sagbayan is not as breath-taking. But I was told that it is only at their hilltop cafe and restaurant that one can clearly see Cebu's city lights across the strait. The mayor's wife Myrna told me that people stay on until 8 or 9 when the weather is fine, and even later on cloudless summer days. If you look towards this side of Sagbayan, I was told you'll see Cebu's neon lights at night.

The landscape of Chocolate Hills in Carmen is more imposing and picture-perfect. Even a clumsy photographer like me was able to get this nice picture on an overcast day last December.

Quote from: bol-anon nga cebuano on March 06, 2009, 12:54:30 AM
pamahaw: goso, buwad ug tuna
paniudto: wala
panihapon: inun-onan ug piniritong bilong-bilong

I remember my youngest daughter, Sarah, whom I brought with me to the Dao wet market (in front of ICM) two weeks ago. Asked what fish she wanted to eat, gitudlo niya bilong-bilong. I was pleasantly surprised, because there is no such fish where they grew up here in Japan. Pritong bilong bilong was also one of my favorite dishes when I was young.

Quote from: ayessa on March 04, 2009, 10:29:35 PM
unsa kahang gatasa gipa inom ni gov. nga himbing man kaayo pagkatulog ang talibon dam scam?

Ayessa,

Is he the lawmaker being referred to who lobbied for the construction of the dam  in the IBON report below?

Talibon Dam Cited in Global Corruption Report

In his presentation at the launching of the Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report (GCR) 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector, IBON Foundation Research Head Jose Enrique Africa cited two irrigation projects rigged with irregularities - the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP) in Nueva Ecija and the Talibon Small Reservoir Irrigation Project in Bohol.

Said projects discussed in the Philippine case studies were presented by Africa to the GCR 2008.


Missing dam
The P199.4-million Talibon Small Reservoir Project (TSRP) in Talibon, Bohol was supposed to irrigate 1,000 hectares of land.

Africa said the project was conceived in 1987 and the provincial irrigation office at that time reportedly found it to be not viable. In any case, surveying and pre-engineering work started and bids were solicited in 1995. A private contractor, which submitted the lowest bid lost, allegedly upon the lobbying of a lawmaker. By 1998, the Bohol Provincial Irrigation Office requested authority to undertake the project.

Construction was supposed to finish in 1999 but until now, it remains incomplete. An investigation in 1995 by a local anti-corruption alliance found that although P119.1 million ($4,639,837 at the 1995 average exchange rate of $1=P25.669) had already been spent, there was still no sign of any reservoir, dam or irrigation. In 2006, the Senate initiated an investigation into the TSRP. But like the CMIPP, there was no conclusion. A case against local NIA officials was filed before the local office of the Ombudsman in 2004 but remains stalled to date.

Unresolved
Africa revealed that the controversies surrounding the two projects remain unresolved.

In 2002, the Senate had more than a dozen hearings regarding the CMIPP.

“Unfortunately, after all the hearings, the final report was never completed…Close connections to the president at that time were allegedly abused to keep the project. At the end of the day, there was no conclusion,” said Africa.

The CMIPP and the Senate inquiries regarding it were conducted during the term of President Fidel Ramos. Despite the anomalies, Africa said the project was pushed through on the strength of, among others, memorandums from Ramos in May 1993, which sought investors for the projects and in November 1994 to fast-track the approval process.

Renaud Meyer, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country director, who attended the launching of the GCR 2008 expressed disbelief that Senate inquiries went to naught.

Africa said farmers are at the losing end.

He said that small farmers in Talibon, Bohol lost in three ways: the labor they contributed to the construction valued at P1.2 million ($46,748); the land they ‘voluntarily donated’ and the crops foregone to make way for the project’s canals and roads and for which they were never compensated; lastly, they still have no irrigation to speak of.

Africa said agriculture is important to the Philippine economy. The state of local agriculture, however, remains backward. The lack of irrigation aggravates the situation. Only 30 percent of the total agricultural land is irrigated.

He reaffirmed the fundamental characteristics of corruption presented by Priya Shah of the Water Integrity Network (WIN) - public officials have wide discretion and little accountability, weak enforcement mechanisms, and the benefits being greater than the risks of getting caught.

Quite clearly, our struggle against corruption is also a struggle for good government and a struggle for more meaningful political change.”

Anyone agrees with Belinda Olivares-Cunanan in her March 3 Political Tidbits  Column in Philippine Daily Inquirer?

But the star was Gov. Erico Aumentado of Bohol province, who showed how Bohol grew from No. 16 of the country’s “Club 20” poorest provinces in 2001 to among the most dynamic, largely by licking poverty and insurgency through tourism development and agriculture and minimizing corruption. Listening to him, I regret that we do not have a federal system where a good governor could become president.

With Panglao International Airport reportedly in the works, and the Loon International Cruise Ship Port on the drawing board, is Bohol ready to go BIG?

How do you think will Bohol be changed by direct international access both by air and sea?

Two 'back to barrios' physics educators win leadership award

By Maria Althea Teves, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 03/04/2009 11:17 AM

Physicist-researcher-eductor couple Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido, respectively the President and Principal of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics in Jagna, Bohol, are this year’s winner of Gawad Haydee Yorac.

“We did not expect this, the previous winners were high profile and very popular. We did not consider ourselves as popular people,” Christopher told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

This year’s winners were University of the Philippines physics professors in the early 1990s. Christopher was director of the UP National Institute of Physics while Victoria was assistant professor in the institute. They moved to Jagna, a seaside 4th class municipality. It is an hour away from Tagbiliran, Bohol.

Christopher said they went back to Bohol because “the whole country has to be developed, not just Manila. We have to develop as a nation.”

“In order to do so, we have started with a research foundation and it grew from there,” he said.

Learning physics

They established the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF) in Jagna, home of the Dynamic Learning Program.

The CVIF program comprises the Research Center for Theoretical Physics, a science-focused high school and a continuing learning program, and the Education Research Center.

The research center has been hosting physics workshops every three years. Two winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics--Gerard t'Htooft and Frank Wilczek--have lectured in the workshops. These have allowed physics students and faculty in the Philippines to interact with scientists abroad.

The couple's “Learning Physics as a Nation” is an innovative program revolutionizing high school education in the country. Over 30 schools from Regions 1 to 12, ARMM, CAR, Caraga and NCR are already applying this program.

“Our goal in putting this up is, in the long run, to develop scientific manpower in our country,” he said.

But it is difficult to develop such when Filipinos do not have firm grasp of basic education.

“We have to harness basic education, first. It is difficult to understand advanced concepts if you don’t even know the basics,” Christopher said.

Poor students

The program is for students from very poor families who will go home with no homework to do so they can do their chores and spend time with family. The lectures only last 20 minutes. and an individual or group work will only last 40 minutes. Some of the poor high school students have been able to pass the UP College Entrance exam.

The physics program that started in Jagna, Bohol has been progressively responsive to needs of very poor students. Although busy with the program, the couple was still able to pursue their passion for physics.

The judges were won over by the couple’s passion for building a nation through science, research and new methods of teaching.

"They addressed a grassroots issue, and had the courage to blaze new science trails in their home province of Bohol, in isolated and marginalized communities, demonstrating that there are no constraints or limits to achieving the lofty vision of building a nation when courage, commitment and intellectual excellence are applied to the task," said the Gawad Haydee Yorac citation.

Ma. Victoria said in a statement, “True development means that the people of a nation have achieved high levels of civilization â€" they are honest, industrious, dutiful and can maintain clean, peaceful productive towns and cities in all parts of the country.”

Haydee Yorac

The Gawad Haydee Yorac is an award established by Meralco in cooperation with University of the Philippines in 1996 in honor of the late Haydee Yorac.

Yorac was former Meralco legal counsel, UP law professor, multi-awarded UP alumna, and former Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

The Gawad Haydee Yorac recognizes the selfless public service of Filipino leaders with qualities, principles and lives worth emulating.

Antonio P. Meloto, founder of Gawad Kaling (GK) was the first Gawad Haydee Yorac awardee. GK is an anti-poverty, nation-building charismatic movement.

Milwida M. Guevarra, President and CEO of Synergeia Foundation, Inc., was the second awardee. She advovates community, business and government support for basic education to marginalized communities.

The winner will receive a cash award of P400,000, net of tax and a trophy done by National Artist Napoleon Abueva.

Calling anybody, whether male or female, "fat" is offensive anywhere.

Quote from: Macky Ferniz on March 04, 2009, 08:23:56 PM
Calling someone Fat or Big
Where It’s Offensive: Bohol

I have experienced twice.



What You Should Do Instead: Call her beautiful.

Macky,

I think I got your point of reference. I really thought you were in different Comparative Culture 101 classes.

Let's not forget that we all got on this thread because we are appalled by the incivility of a public servant throwing septic waste on a media man.

I believe we at TB have more gentility and social grace than the people we're condemning.

Honestly, Precious, I think Macky's comment was not meant to derogate but to lighten the seriousness of the discussion.

Ako baya'y gapangusina, panilhig ug laba. Akong misis gamartilyo, magtaud suga, mag-ayo sa connection sa appliance...

Equal rights, di ba?

We are certainly pricing ourselves out of the market. Bisag South Korea nagback-out sa direct chartered flight from Pusan and Incheong to Tagbilaran last year because of unreasonably high prices of local accommodation. Mga Hapon pud gareklamo, especially since the services are not at par with international standards. I think it's time market forces work to even out this imbalance.

By the way, those who don't like crowded places like Alona or Dumaluan and can't afford Eskaya, BBC or Island Nature Resort, I can recommend a semi-private beach house (with about 8 airconditioned units) that is very reasonably priced. OK lang kaayo sa bulsa ug personal pa ang serbisyo. My family goes to only this place in Panglao kay tawhay ug mga private resthouses ang kaduol. Just pm me if you need help with your stay in Panglao. I might be home again in April, see you!

Wa pa gani na-approve ang right of reply bill, nag-abuso na ni si Karaan sa iyang pag-reply ni Daarol, which is to douse allegations of corruption at the City Hall with disproportionately foul septic water.

Can't believe this thing can happen among the very gentle and civilized Boholanos! And the verbal exchange between the mayor and dyRD is grating to the ears. Why can't people just address the issues without getting personal? Why can't the Mayor's office just disclose the financial records of the city, to which the public has the right of access, anyway?

My two cent's worth is that we can't really legislate decency. We have existing libel laws, to which those who are unjustly maligned by the media can resort. Since libel proceedings are done within the court, we don't have to put up with those who wash dirty linens in the public. What do you think will happen if parties who suffer, justly or unjustly, from media reports are given equivalent public venues to strike back? If the written answers are as septic as Karaan's toilet bowl, or personal, or incendiary, don't you think these will just escalate personal or public contentions? I think it is better to seek redress in court, where dignities can be preserved and protected.

It's our first snow here in Tokyo this year, but it's a very thin layer. Tugnaw kaayo!

Last time I was in Tagbilaran, which was about a week ago, Gelyan told me that Paul was experiencing some discomfort or pain in his knees. Let's just pray he'll be able to recover soon.

Here in Japan, Bisdak is an identity we speak of with pride kay majority man.

Many of my Manileno friends express envy that I communicate not only with Tagalog and English but also the Visayan dialects like Cebuano, Binol-anon and Ilonggo. Gone are the days when they said, "Ah, ija-ija aho-aho ka pala" when I say I'm from Bohol. Instead, I hear "Ang ganda ng probinsya mo!"

Hi Bran,

This is one of my favorite worship songs. Thanks for posting.

Drivers fiddling with their mobile phone while on the wheels give me the creeps. And recently in our country, exchanges of text messages between strangers have led to EBs that resulted in scams and deadly crimes... Di lang makabugo ug makapobre, makamatay pa.

But how can we live without it? Perhaps I am right not to use texting as my main mode of communication. I still prefer and use mainly the voice call. But many Filipinos don't reply to voice calls.

Where I am, in Japan, most anecdotal evidences seem to support this claim. Even now, my hands are tied up to the drafting and translation of postnuptial agreement on division of Philippine properties between a 66-year old Japanese and his 28-year old Filipina wife who first came to me practically jumping at each other's throat as they hurled accusations against each other.

Since 1995, Filipinas marrying Japanese have topped 7000 every year but close to half of these marriages end up in divorce. Tsk, tsk...

Filipinas marry foreigners for money not love
CHERYL ARCIBAL, GMANews.TV
02/03/2009 |

MANILA, Philippines- The inability of the Philippine economy to produce high-paying jobs especially for women has pushed Filipinos to marry foreigners as a way to provide for their families, the study Country Gender Assessment by regional lender Asian Development Bank said.

The number of Filipinos marrying foreigners have also tripled in just a span of eight years from 7,819 in 1998 to 24,954 in 2006.

It is also estimated that currently, 300,000 Filipinos, 92 percent of whom are women, are married to foreigners mainly from the United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

"(I)n the Philippines (as elsewhere), the phenomenon of 'mail order brides' is not uncommon. In the absence of employment prospects and with families to care for, many women view marrying a foreigner as an easy ticket to an overseas life with steady remittances. With the advent of the Internet, chat rooms, and text messaging the marriage migration numbers are on the rise," the ADB said.

Data from The Commission on Filipinos Overseas showed that Filipino women marrying men from East Asian countries tend to be younger and less educated. These foreign men also usually are at least 40 years older than their Filipino brides.

"Reports indicate that more women apply for 'marriage visas' to Japan as a result of Japan reducing its official demand for entertainers," ADB said.

In 2005 Japan has imposed a stricter immigration policy following Tokyo's inclusion in a US watchlist of high incidence of human smuggling.

ADB said Manila should undertake measures to protect Filipino women as those who marry foreigners that they do not know face enormous risks.

"Many of the men live in remote areas and are unsuccessful with women from their own culture, who they feel are spoiled and have too many freedoms. Instead, they want women with 'traditional' family values who, once in the country, have nowhere to turn and are completely at their mercy," ADB said.

Among the recommendations of the ADB was to tap remittances from overseas Filipinos for productive investment and sustainable livelihood opportunities for women so that migration becomes a choice rather than a necessity.

Kiamoy,

Can't help but be worried for you and our other TB yuppies in Cebu. Demographics of these recent crimes show a disproportionate involvement of young ones and those who are up and about in unholy hours... I am sure you can take care of yourself. Don't forget your daily prayer for protection.  Ayaw pud ng vigilantism kay crime can't be solved by another crime. Palihukon lang gyud ning mga law enforcers kay murag gakagrabe na gyud ang Cebu.

These stories give a very disturbing image of Cebu. In the last few weeks, the shooting incident at the Mactan International Airport, the Iranian Ashkan Aminian's cold-blooded murder, the Ebarita  murder, then this...  What's next? Has Cebu gone this far down the drain? Hadlok na ba maglakaw-lakaw diha? Asa na man ang safe zones?

Happy birthday, Kiams! May you have many more blessed years to come!

Quote from: hofelina on January 15, 2009, 05:09:16 PM
Hi Ben,

I feel like singing the song , gonna sail a sentimental journey.
I used to travel Butuan-Jagna because I spent almost 9 years in Davao City. Everytime I arrive Jagna pantalan, the atmosphere is really different, Bohol na!  Now I remember ang mga taga Guindulman hilig manggimo ug Kolera!  I never get this practice anyway.
I think we are getting the point in our lives were we start confronting our past. I am starting to evaluate what I have done so far. at my age 58, with 2 kids 26 and 15, what is left in my life?
Jun, Kamusta naman ang Corella village, my next vision.

Manay Tess

Manay Tess,

Naglisod baya to akong ginikanan, labi na akong Mama, pagpadako namo sa Jagna. I can just imagine now how hard life must have been. Pero sa mata sa bata, in my eyes, Jagna was an idyllic place where poverty and harship never stole the innocence of my childhood. How I wish our children now can say the same. Bitaw Nay Tess, at this age in life, the farther you go, the more you want to go back home... Magkita-kita lang gyud ta sa Bohol pohon...

Quote from: buwadsanga on January 15, 2009, 02:43:43 PM
benny, kamusta, usbon ko salamat sa pag post mo regarding jagna. presently i'm residing now in manila since 1986 and was able to visit jagna from time to time. i was there last april 2008. di nato hibaw-an pohon magka abut tas jagna. isoroy gyud ka nako.

kanang mga green mountains nga naa sa middle(the rightmost one, the shape looks like a triangle) sa first attached picture, taga dinha ang akong lolo ug lola infact dihang dapita ko natawo. that mountain is called Mt. Palingkod its accessible thru a trail that traverses at the side of my uncle's house. nindut kaayo diha kita ang view from anda to balitbiton, valencia(hometown of brilliant lorenzo). labina ug mag bawon ug beer unya adto imnun pastilang lami-a ang bation sa nindut nga view during sunset time nga gi dojogan sa bugnaw ug priskong hangin, hangtud nga maniga na ang mga suga sa kabayanan sa obos dajong mag himo mi ug bonfire. habang nagsugba ug native chicken.
my cousins and i will always spent our time in that mountain when im home in jagna.

"nindut kaayo tan-awon diha ang moonrise from pacific ocean side kong e tayming nga full moon ang panahon"... safe ang lugar kong mag camping dihang dapita.

ingon mga ig-agaw ko ug mo abut nako magda ug mangko isugba pang polotan:

"GAW, RAK EN ROLL NA TA!"........ kaulion ko ga tan-aw Ben!!!!

Murag nindot gyud hinuon ang perspective dihas imong lugar natawhan. Murag nagsaka-saka man mi dihang dapita sa una. Lami ang pulutan nga native nga manok. Uban tag balik sa Jagna pohon, agii lang ko sa Tagbilaran.

GEC,

Mas hawod ang "elusive men" kaysa "beautiful women", so keep that mystique.

Quote from: junayag on January 15, 2009, 04:04:07 PM

Would be glad to meet you (na meet na nako sila Lynne and the kids, but didn't have much time with kids kay busy ko that time).

Am planning to be home by March pohon ( for how long? that would depend on the arrangement with my present employer and the immediate needs of my newly started business ).  Please let me know kon kanus-a ka kauli. I've initially discussed with Lynne on some business ideas where we could relate... and I am looking forward to forge some cooperative ventures with you.

My regards to all.

I just floated some ideas for joint cooperation with you in your PM. Siguro that's the best place to do it for now. Basig muuli pud ko by then. I'll make a major decision next month. Mas maayo man jud kung kita ang mag-istorya.

Quote from: junayag on January 15, 2009, 03:35:22 PM

Hello Benny,

I love your postings, much more can't help being carried with emotions reflecting childhood days spent for survival.  Kiamoy is correct with the passage that  people changed not the place .. not the memories.

I've visited your flickersite, curious to know more about you and reconnect what my Mom told me of the days in Jagna with your Mom Nellie ( while she was with the Colegio dela Medalla Milagrosa ) studying and got sneak visits to be with the kids ( while we were left in Mabini at that time ).

Thanks for the opportunity of having shared your family's time with my Mom which helped her to move on a direction envisioned for her children even at a cost of not being with them.  I wish my Mom would get a chance to meet your Mom in the very near future.

Asa man si Mama Nellie nimo ron?  My Mama Besing will be celebrating her 77th birthday this coming 22nd January 2009. How nice to reunite them even via a telephone conversation. Mom is residing in  Union City, USA with my sister.  Would appreciate if you could provide me with details on where we could reach your Mom.

Thanks so much.
Jun Ayag

Hi Jun,

Nice to hear from you again. Who would imagine that our virtual threads here at TB are actually entwined in the real world somewhere down in the distant past, that your mother and my mother are friends, that we may have trodden the same ground in the past? Candijay, my father's town is close to Mabini and until now I thought they were in the same place.

My mother would be greatly surprised to hear from your mom. I'll PM you my mother's e-mail address. Naa pud siya sa US ron. Who knows basig magkita-kita sila?

I look forward to meeting you pohon this year in Tagbilaran.

Quote from: janjan on January 15, 2009, 03:20:26 PM
aguy gwapa ra pud kaajo na naa sa picture sir  benelyne oy sum-ol tan-awon ... kana di kaajo gwapa kay di sum-ol kana ba beauty nga first time nimo kita maka ingon ka nga gwapa lagi then kadugayan nimo tan-aw mosamot ka gwapa kana dili ka sum-olan kana filipina beauty gud ba kana tam-ison, para naho filipina beauty gud gwapa kay sweet gud ug beauty

kanang di sum-ol nga beauty o tinuod nga katamhon "is in the eyes of the beholder." gikan sa sulod ang beauty.

There you go again, GEC. Add this to your signature... "a fairy tale, a figure of speech, a caffeine-induced hallucination."

I'll hate the day I find out who you really are.

The photo accompanying this article is misleading. Aishwarya Rai is certainly an icon for feminine beauty, being often voted as the most beautiful woman in the world (Angelina Jolie being the closest challenger). But as far as I know, this Miss World beauty titlist didn't play around and lived with her parents until her marriage to fellow Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan last year. I'm an unabashed admirer of this symbol of feminine pulchritude.

I just decided to cut down my coffee consumption from four glasses to two a day, starting today. I just might see avatars where there are only empty squares.

Big coffee drinkers hallucinate more: study

Wed Jan 14, 8:11 am ET

LONDON (AFP) â€" People who drink more than seven cups of coffee a day tend to hallucinate more than less caffeine-driven colleagues, according to a study published Wednesday.

Those with a high caffeine intake are three times more likely to have heard a non-existent person's voice than those who drink one cup a day, said the research by psychologists at Durham University.

But the study noted that the tendency to hear voices or have other hallucinations may not be caused by caffeine, but simply reflect the kind of people who drink lots of coffee.

"This is a first step towards looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations," said Simon Jones, the PhD student who led the study.

"Previous research has highlighted a number of important factors, such as childhood trauma. Many such factors are thought to be linked to hallucinations, in part because of their impact on the body's reaction to stress."

Co-author Charles Fernyhough stressed that the study did not confirm a causal link between caffeine intake and hallucinations, noting also that three percent of people regularly hear voices in their head.

"One interpretation may be that those students who were more prone to hallucinations used caffeine to help cope with their experiences," he said.

"More work is needed to establish whether caffeine consumption, and nutrition in general, has an impact on those kinds of hallucination that cause distress."

The researchers now plan to study the impact of other forms of food and drink on hallucinations.

"It's surprising that there has been so little research into nutrition and hallucinations. In some countries high consumption levels of sugar and saturated fat are linked to poor mental health outcomes," said Jones.

"Given the link between food and mood, and particularly between caffeine and the body's response to stress, it seems sensible to examine what a nutritional perspective may add."

The study appears in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

I remember a book on etiquette that proscribed three topics in any social gathering: politics, sex and religion.

I believe a virtual gathering such as we have here at TB is no different, unless everyone agrees to disagree, and disagrees graciously.

As a topic, religion is especially hard to navigate, unless I am asked to speak of it from a personal point of view without prejudice to those who believe otherwise.

I remind myself that my spiritual conviction should broaden my heart and my mind rather than constrict it, give me a better understanding not only of myself but most importantly of others (especially those who believe otherwise), encourage me to seek common grounds rather than drive me adrift to islands of intolerance, and build me up as a person without demolishing others.

Quote from: buwadsanga on January 15, 2009, 09:35:57 AM
Beney, taga Jagna ko saunas bata pako saka kanaug kos barko ug bus as a shoe shine boy. gagmay pa ang mga barko sauna ug ang bus ang usa ka kilid poro pwertahan anha mis pantalan mag dive2X sa mga bote sa barko. gokdon mis mga trepolanti nga naghinlo sa barko unja ambak dajon mi pasikatay sa among smooth nga dive labinag summer, di mi mabangbang sa mga tagabarko mag dive2x kay daghan mi. sweet lines - mv katipunan ang pinaka dako nga barko adtong panahuna mga 4th story bldg ang katas-on mao nga smooth jud ang dive kay ug dili sakit ang imong buna inig dapat nas tubig gumikan sa velocity that is proportion to the height nga imong e dive.

tinuod ka, mao gihapon ang color ug kahinloon sa dagat ang naka deperensya kay sa pagka karon wa nay mag dive2X sa barko ug gidili na usab ang pagpamasow sa pantalan by PPA.

salamat sa imong topic. hinaut unta nga one day i can guide you when you tour Jagna.

Naa diay kas Jagna ron? Ug nag-research pa unta ko gamay sa TB members diha bag-o mi ni anha kuyog mga bata, mas nakalibut-libot unta mi tarong. Kadyut ra jud kaayo mi diha, pero enjoy kaayo.

Mahinumduman nako ang scene sa pantalan niadtong panahon ug kanang mga barkoha niadto. Mas bata man siguro ka naku, ako 44. Pero daghan kaayo diha sa Jagna murag mao ra gihapon, in the positive sense of the word. Abi man gud naku na-urbanize na pud kaayo. I would have been more disappointed.

Quote from: ayessa on January 15, 2009, 07:45:09 AM
I miss the beaches of Guindulman... very serene and virgin..

mas maayo pa ang beaches, kay dili bitches, virgin pa gyud..

One of a kind jud ka ayessa, you can give a sweeping academic discourse on intelligence and in the same breath magpakatawa ug mabaw nga kalipay... I guess the sun always shines wherever you are.

Quote from: Lorenzo on January 15, 2009, 06:54:56 AM
Ah yes, the calamay.

I remember opening that brown circular bowl covered with the red tag in the center. It was in 1998 since I had my last calamay from Jagna.

Calamay with coke served in a plastic bag with a straw in it.

Glorious.

Its the simple things in life that one will always remember and imprint in their mind.



Jagna ROCKS!

Or to paraphrase Buwadsanga, "Rock en Roll"

hahahaha!

My youngest daughter Sarah really loves calamay, too. A major progress towards cultural assimilation sa Bohol. Next time, basig makaBinisaya na jud.

Quote from: hofelina on January 15, 2009, 07:27:03 AM
Ben,
Please accept my sincere thanks for this postings and your pictures. Jagna is almost 40 km away from Guindulman. I feel very homesick now

Manay Tess

Manay Tess,

I understand the feeling, am just as homesick as you, labin pa nga nga gakurug-kurog ko sa katugnaw diri sa Japan.

Quote from: kiamoy` on January 14, 2009, 10:50:02 PM
hehe work of an archeologist but more on paleontolgy..waah? (cge lang kuya ako pud nalipong)  i remember when i was a kid i'll check for fossils sa mga bato (nga naa ra sa garden).. haha LOL!

Is Jagna near Danao? We are planning to go to Danao para sa glide adventure..

Murag naa sa interior ang Danao, accessible thru the same route as Carmen. Haven't been there yet, but I've read about the longest zip line that is the centerpiece of its eco-tour adventure program.

Quote from: Bambi on January 15, 2009, 06:52:54 AM
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=pyx2n_p9OZ8

Sir Benelynne,

Passing scenes in mind refreshes the  beautiful past and makes us feel  to live life easier as it is.
Your touching reports about your boyhood makes me feel of coming earlier home before dawn comes.
Very interesting and the photos are nice and clear.  I was there with Markus in Jagna bound to Nasipit during our December vacation 2005! They had a very strong weapon control before boarding. I love the calamay from Jagna.

Hi Bambi,

I become a crybaby when it comes to these songs, a fave of my wife Lynne. The irony of life is that we've given up so many of the simple joys of childhood to pursue happiness, sometimes to the far ends of the earth just like many of us here at TB... only to find out that our real happiness remains in the heart of the child in each one of us.

It took all of four decades for me to meet the child in me in Jagna.

Quote from: kiamoy` on January 14, 2009, 10:25:49 PM
I always thought I will be an archealogist. Getting myself dirty digging.
haha ambisyusa no? bata pa gale.

Grabe, but go for it. Mas lawom pa gyud diay nang imong gustong balikan, di ra ang natabunan sa handumanan, kundi apil pa ang nalubong na sa yuta. Unsay field sa archaeology? (Ako mahilig ko mubasa ug Bibilical archaeology, di lang nang lost ark.)

Israel only has to remember that it was in Gaza where strongman Samson's seven locks were cut through Delilah's deceit, as a result of which Samson lost his herculean strength...

Because of this overkill response to Hamas in Gaza, Israel is losing the support of the seven continents and may end up isolated and powerless.

Surely, you'll be surprised. Kinder pa pud ko ato, pero doble man siguro akong edad nimo (44), so you'll have to cover more distance far and wide para mas dako ang sorpresa.

Just the thought of you, now working hard till the wee hours serving people on the other side of the globe--it's a completely different world from the carefree days of childhood.

You only realize how much you've changed once you've confronted the past.

Quote from: junayag on January 02, 2009, 11:47:31 PM
Helo Ben, Belated happy birthday. Sagitarrius sad diay ka? Manghod man diay ka nako.  So there is some truth sa gisulti nako ni Mama nga nakabantay siya nimo nga silingan pa mo diha sa Jagna kay gagmay pa man mi while nageskwela akong Mama sa Medalla Milagrosa.

Glad to know nga, Mom was happy at that time watching kids playing while being away from her children for the sake of schooling.

Magkita ra ta pohon.  My regards to Lynne and the kids.

New Year na lang ayha ko nakabantay aning greetings! Delayed response gyud ko. Actually, Jun, I went back to Jagna with my three kids in early December ug sentimental kaayo kay this was almost after 4 decades (please read my other thread http://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=17190.0)

Jun, basig magkita ra gyud ta this year, God willing. I sure would like to sit down with you to talk about common childhood memories of which we only have a vague recollection as well as things that we could do together to give back to our beloved Bohol and keep ourselves productive as well.

Hi Kiams,

Bitaw, that reflection came later, kay murag na-overcome pa ko sa emotion upon seeing the place.

A friend of mine in QC who saw some of these flickr photos said, "Didn't everything seem much smaller than you had expected?" And it dawned on me that age, experience and exposure--all of 4 decades in my case--have a way of downsizing the scale of places and events in one's past.

I looked for the drainage canal with a bridge made of coconut trunks where I fell down as I negotiated it on a three-wheel bicycle (I think I was only 5). The bicycle also fell down on top of me, and I tried to protect myself from its impact with my left hand. Napiang intawon akong wa nga kamot ug nabandahe for 3 months.

Nakurat ko nga mabaw ra man diay kaayo tong canal! Gipangutana nako ang motorela driver kung lawom ba na sa una. Di ko makatuo sa gisulti n'ya nga in-ana ra gyud kuno na sukad. And he being a native of Jagna and just about 5 years younger than me, I believed him. Bisag katong bakilid nga among padausdusan sa una, abi nakug taas kaayo, di man diay.

Curiously, Benjamin Button is right: It's I who have changed. it's we who have changed.

But the the place always stands big in my memory.

Suwayan naku Belle ug kamao pa ko.


It seems that the Jagna port has been reserved exclusively for our arrival. One passenger ship glided past us as we approached the dock. Even from a distance, it looks spanking clean. The water does not have floating solid wastes, and is as blue as the deep seas. Jagna Port constitutes an important nexus in the Philippines' Strong Republic Nautical Highway. Though a backdoor entry point, it looks like a better tourism gateway than Tagbilaran Port.


Paolo and newfound friend Baby Andre (that's how he introduced himself) gaze at the awesome panorama atop the MV Dona Rita deck as the ship cruises towards Jagna. A soccer enthusiast, Paolo likes to form teams of boys to kick the ball with. Even in mid-sea, he seems to be on the lookout for soccer friends. Hailing from Maramag, Bukidnon, Andre seemed just as eager to look for a playmate to kill time during the five-hour cruise. Paolo often gets into trouble with his two sisters who hate rowdy sports. Every afternoon, he gathers small boys (and girls) in our Tagbilaran neighborhood and teaches them baseball and soccer, his favorite sports while in Japan. Here, he just showed Andre his soccer mags as they obviously couldn't play ball.


Shown in this photo are Paolo, Sarah and Raya, taking a leisurely walk through the Jagna Port after alighting from MV Dona Rita. Paolo blurted, "But Daddy, this seems just like a small town. You sure there is any tourist attraction we can see here?" I answered that I would just like to take them through the streets of my boyhood and see if my memory of the place is in tact. It turned out I was right at every turn in our one-hour ride through the town.


This yellow-colored bus seems to have been plying the highway of Bohol for the longest time, serving the interior and eastern routes from Tagbilaran to Talibon. Here, it whizzes past the plaza in front of the San Miguel Archangel Parish Church in Jagna.


My older sister Benilda Tutor Perez, now in the US, went to the Jagna Central School while I attended kindergarten at the Colegio dela Medalla Milagrosa. I remember that early every morning, we sneaked out of the house to the school ground to pick up ripe fallen mango fruits. I scanned the place for the mango and mabolo trees that I am sure used to be there, but wasn't quite sure if they were still there. My kids asked me, frowning (you can tell from this photo) "What's the big deal about this place?" I replied, almost on the verge of tears, that this was where I used to play 38 years ago.

I would like to share with you my article, published in ABS-CBN's StarStudio Magazine Japan Edition January 2009 issue. It's about a sentimental journey I recently made with my kids. I don't know if we are allowed to post photos, or if we are, I forgot how to post photos, so for the visual part of this article, just check out my flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26656178@N08/page5/

Bohol: Charms of Time on Hold
Benigno D. Tutor, Jr.

No travel can be as “moving”, literally and figuratively, as a journey back to one’s childhood roots. I told my three children, who were born and spent most of their growing years in Japan and have only recently relocated to the Philippines, that I know how it feels to pine for one’s umbilical bonds.

A recent business trip to the Philippines gave me and my kids the fortuitous occasion to revisit my boyhood vistas and share with them every itinerant soul’s homing instinct. Jagna was only incidental to our travel plan, as this was the only route available from Cagayan de Oro for us to make it to my son’s soccer game in Tagbilaran that Sunday.

As our ship glided past Camiguin and edged towards Jagna, scenes of my boyhood escapades 40 years ago loomed larger and larger against the emerging background of Bohol’s jagged deep-green skyline. Unlike waters in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, Jagna’s waters remained deep blue even at the refurbished port. The pier was spanking clean and well-maintained, smelling only of windswept salt. I was only six when I left this laidback town, but the layout of the streets is still etched vividly in my mind. Hailing a motorela, I told the cab driver to take us around the town. Except for the paved streets, more painted buildings and new structures, the landscape was basically unchanged from four decades ago. Our first stop was the 17th century San Miguel Archangel Parish Church, adjoining the Colegio de la Medalla Milagrosa at the town center where my mother finished her AB English and I attended kindergarten school. Back to our rented ride, I instructed the driver to turn left to the Jagna Central School, which was close to where we lived. Among the old structures still stood the mango and mabolo trees where my sister and I sneaked to for the first pick of fallen ripe fruits in the morning. I also retraced our footways to the highlands where we picked wild lomboy fruits. It took us only about 30 minutes to make a round of the town, which was refreshingly un-touristy. Surprisingly, my heart lingered longest in Jagna during this trip.

The following day, we took the beaten path to Bohol’s most famous landmarkâ€"the Chocolate Hills. Life on the Cebu-side coastline of Bohol was apparently more upbeat. My wife arranged for us to visit the Sagbayan Peak, the latest viewing deck of this world-famous 50-hectare sprawl of 1,268 haycock-shaped hills that symbolizes Bohol. Opened only five years ago thanks to the dauntless entrepreneurial spirit of Mayor Jimmy Torrefranca, this mountaintop resort and recreation center is now one of the tourism landmarks of Bohol. On a cloudless day, the mountaintop café and restaurant provides a clear view not only of the hills but also of Cebu City across the strait. During the peak Christmas and summer seasons when the weather is fine, visitors stay up to midnight for the feast of city lights on the horizon. The 5-hectare complex straddles three peaks which not only give a vantage point for the surrounding terrain but also houses the Butterfly Dome, Tarsier Sanctuary, and the latest facilities called the Kids’ Town and the Water Park. Catering mainly to families and children, Operations Manager Myrna Torrefranca has gathered familiar stone replicas of Duffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Lola, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Duck, Pizza Man, Snow White and 7 Dwarfs, Lion King, Tiger and dinosaurs. According to Myrna, who cut short an engagement to show us around, next in the resort’s master plan are accommodation facilities, which will make Sagbayan Peak an all-in-one destination.

Our last stop was the traditional viewing deck in Carmen, passing through a rough interior road. All roads in Bohol lead to Carmen, as hordes of tourists from all over the world flock to this town located at the very heart of this island for the best position to scan this natural masterpiece. Apparently, the viewing facility has been upgraded to world-class standards, with a restaurant, swimming pool, activity center, an air-conditioned toilet and well-manicured landscape. To get the best view of this rolling geological marvel, one has to climb some 200 steps. At the top, one cannot but feel that the side stops to Bohol’s ancient historical edifices are merely a mild foretaste to this agelessly divine monument.

Quote from: ayessa on January 13, 2009, 06:13:00 PM

Have you read the multiple intelligence theory of Dr. Howard Gardner?  Every person has different propensity on intelligences and maybe yours is linguistic intelligence. So you cannot say that if you have done it, other people could do it. Because then again, we have different inclinations.
Just a way of thinking, ngano kahibaw man sila mokanta unya ako yabag man?

hi ayessa,

This is certainly enlightening. Your academic inputs are really refreshing.

By the way, I also mentioned that "our level of success will be determined partly by our in-born verbal abilities." My own children are struggling with English and Filipino in their new school in Tagbilaran, but I keep prodding them that they could make it. After all, I began studying Japanese when I was 22. I don't speak it as well as they do, but I have the functional literacy required for my job. You yourself are multi-lingual. It's amazing how many Filipinos abroad easily learn or at least adapt to the language of their host societies.

Di lang gyud maayo kung tungod sa atong pag-Ininglis pasagdan na ang Binisaya.

Quote from: ayessa on January 13, 2009, 05:59:25 PM
Do they integrate English in their curriculum or do they use english as a medium of instruction? These are two different things and for sure, in Japan, they dont teach science, mathematics, japanese history in English..

In the Philippines, most especially in private schools, they teach Philippine History in English and the funny thing is, maybe its only the Filipino subject which is not taught in English.  The usage of the Philippine language  "Filipino" has been a minority.. heheheh ironic....

It is of course an advantage to be multi-lingual. There is no question about that.  But it is a shame that we lose our most tangible heritage and wealth and that is our own language.

The Japanese teach all subjects, including English (ironically), in Japanese. Japanese is undoubtedly one of the most highly developed languages in the world, having evolved through centuries of relative isolation. But the Japanese has openly appropriated script and vocabulary from China, and in its latter interaction with the Western world, from English and European languages (through the so-called katakana terms). As a language, it is not entirely self-contained.

Since we took different trajectories in our development as nations, I think there is no single language policy that can apply to all.

At this point in time, Japan feels that it should give new impetus to English education by teaching it within the mindset that it requires. That's why they want it taught in English by native speakers of the language.

Nag-eskwela ko sa panahon nga halos tanan nga subject, gawas sa Pilipino, gitudlo sa English. Wa ko kahibalo kung unsay epekto sa bilingual policy sukad sa panahon ni Aquino. Muingon sila nga nagkamaot kuno ang English sa mga Pilipino. Ako mismo gusto ko ma-preserbar ang mga bahandi nga lokal nga kultura ug sunultian. Ang pagtuon naku sa ubang sinultian nagpakusog sa akong gugma ug pagdayig para sa "Filipino soul."

My point is simply that English and Filipino can be taught simultaneously, without prejudice to each other. I believe that as a mental exercise, learning another language does not have to mean diminution of one's own native tongue. I am aware of course that in practical terms, the government has to devote financial and human resources to both, which can really strain our limited coffers.

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbugakusho) has recently decided to embark on a drastic change in their English education policy, starting with high schools--teachers will teach English in English. Also starting this school year, they will teach English as a mandatory subject from elementary school.

The rationale for this is echoed by Yasushi Nakane, president of Interac, the largest deployment company for English teachers in Japan, whom I interviewed more than two years ago:

"Global competition has never been this fierce. In a world structured into East-West hemispheres, Japan simply had to produce nice industrial products and was assured of a market under the wings of American alliance. But with the obsolescence of communism and the crumbling of the East-West divide with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the world has become one global market, a level playing field for every one. Even the US has become a competitor, not to mention the emerging economies like China and South Korea. Japan has to go out into the world even more in order to sell its products. More than ever, it needs English to be able to do this. Japan cannot sit back on its English ability, what with a ranking of 100 in TOEFL score worldwide. Even in Asia, the Japanese trail miserably behind."

For the complete text of this interview, please check out http://www.philippinestoday.net/index.php?module=article&view=4

I speak English, Japanese and Filipino (not to mention the dialects Tagalog, Bisaya and Ilonggo) with working-level proficiency, and my principal livelihood is translation. In my experience, I believe that we can study different languages simultaneously. Because of our exposure to different dialects, Filipinos are predisposed to the acquisition of foreign language skills. English is as different from Japanese is as Japanese is to Binol-anon, but we can achieve working-level proficiency in all of them if we just try hard enough, with our level of success of course determined partly by our in-born verbal aptitudes. But I believe improving our English skills will not necessarily mean the degradation of our Filipino skills.

Just my two cents' worth.

I guess the best diplomacy for our state officials is not to preach from a moral high ground, especially since the Philippines' political risk index, an independent international assessment, is in the same bracket as Thailand.

Lisod mag-criticize nga hugaw ang nawong sa uban kung ikaw pud bolingiton (no offense to bolingiboy).

After all, as far as political maturity is concerned, we hold the record in modern times for ousting and installing two presidents by extra-constitutional means.

At least the Thai judiciary has the gumption to hand down a verdict on an incumbent prime minister who was deemed elected illegally, however their law defines it. And everyone follows, respects and enforces it.

Can we say our own political system has a working checks-and-balance mechanism? Does our Supreme Court have the same guts? Can our Congress really legislate independently of its Malacanang patron and apart from vested interests?

Thailand protests RP criticism vs crisis

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:05:00 12/03/2008

MANILA, Philippines â€" (UPDATE) Thailand has expressed "great concern" over criticisms by deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez and Senator Richard Gordon that the unrest in Thailand reflected the Thais' lack of political maturity.

At a press conference Wednesday, Thailand Ambassador to the Philippines Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhaya said the two officials' statements "were not based on facts and may have some implication of hidden agendas."

He said he was set to file a diplomatic protest with the Department of Foreign Affairs this Wednesday.

Pressed to reveal what these agenda might be, the ambassador said he didn't know for sure if there was an agenda, only that it appeared that there was.

The ambassador said that while the Philippine society allowed for open criticisms, it must respect facts and rule of law.

Its officials should not "compare the two societies [as if] competing to do something that is not necessary at all. If there is a good advice, Thailand will appreciate it," he said.

The ambassador said calling Thais politically immature was not fair. "Thais have admired Filipinos for a long, long time. The Philippines has been a place of knowledge for us for a long, long time," he said.

The ambassador said he was also concerned about the two officials' statements that Filipinos "have reached a high degree of political maturity whereby our people respect due process and the rule of law," and that "the political turmoil in Thailand could not possibly happen here."

"In fact, the protest is only [an] indication that [the] Thai people are free to exercise their political right based on democracy. In the midst of the protests, the Royal Thai Government has committed itself to upholding the democratic system and will resolve the current situation in accordance with the democratic means," he said.

Asked if he wanted the two to apologize, the ambassador said he could not require that of them. "It is voluntary," he said.

The ambassador also noted that these statements violated the ASEAN Charter which specified that member-countries could not interfere in each other's internal affairs.

"I would also like to reiterate the importance of the basic principle of ASEAN which appears in the ASEAN Charter that the member countries will not interfere in each other's internal affairs," he said.

2008/12/02

Releasing Your Regrets
by Rick Warren

People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)

*** *** *** ***
How often do you play the “if only” game?
· If only I had it to do over.
· If only I had listened sooner.
· If only I could erase the past.
· If only I could forgive myself.

Because no one is perfect, we all have regrets. We’ve all made bad choices, said foolish things, wasted time, and hurt ourselves and others.

How do you release those regrets?

Here are some strategies that don’t work:

1. We bury them. Burying the past doesn’t work. Like creatures from a horror movie, unresolved regrets come back to haunt us over and over. Minimizing (“It wasn’t a big deal”), rationalizing (“Everyone does it”), and compromising (lowering your standards) are ways we try to bury our regrets.

2. We blame others. This tactic is as old as Adam and Eve. When Adam sinned, he took it like a man â€" he blamed his wife! We use blame to balance out our guilt.

3. We beat ourselves. We try to pay for our guilt unconsciously through illness, depression, setting ourselves up for failure, and other forms of self-punishment. The problem with beating up on yourself is this: your conscience never knows when to stop! Many spend their entire lives in self-condemnation.

What does God want me to do with my regrets?

· Admit my guilt. Own up to it.Don’t make excuses. The Bible says, “People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy” (Proverbs 28:13 NLT).

· Accept Christ’s forgiveness. He’s waiting to clean your slate.Ask him to clear your conscience, and then remember “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).

· Forgive yourself and focus on the future. “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB).

© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest , Calif. , one of America 's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _

PurposeDrivenLife. com
a Ministry of Saddleback Church
1 Saddleback Pkwy
Lake Forest , CA 92630
(800) 633-8876

If oil-rich Dubai is putting on hold mega construction projects like the Trump Towers and equally oil-rich Russia is suspending the construction of the world's tallest skyscraper Russian Tower because of the global financial crisis, I can't imagine whose deep pocket Arroyo can reach to push through with the Panglao international airport.

With national treasury raided by the fertilizer scam, the paper-bag pay-offs, and all other political shenanigans that places this country in the top ranking of corrupt governments, I wonder what strong economic fundamentals they speak of that will brace us for the hard times ahead?

We need more irrigation canals, not runways. People need rice, not cake.

Isn't it funny... how misfortunes and tragedies drive us to seek God or challenge Him to prove His existence, but enjoy good times and prosperity without even a grateful afterthought?

Happy Birthday!

I'm airborne on this day, so I'll celebrate your b-day on cloud nine. May you have more blessings and love and good health.

Mari,

I've been remiss lately with my updates here at TB. I know you have celebrated your birthday some two weeks ago, so belated Happy B-day too! Hope you and your hubby and kids are doing fine...

I'll be checking on my kids in Tagbilaran late this week but we'll travel out of town before I fly back to Japan.

God willing, I'll be staying longer in Tagbilaran next year. Regards sa tanan!