MikeLigalig.com

Wealth used to be a man's world, but the gap between the sexes when it comes to money is narrowing rapidly, a British report shows.

The number of female millionaires in Britain has been rising on the back of social trends - such as inheritance and the rapidly climbing divorce rate - according to independent market analyst Datamonitor.

On top of that, a new generation of women have started to prosper in their own right, and female entrepreneurs are increasingly growing in number.

While a male millionaire's wealth has increased by an average 9.2 per cent over the past eight years, the worth of a female millionaire has ballooned by 53.9 per cent, Datamonitor found.

In 1998, the average male millionaire was worth STG2.71 million ($A6.53 million), while the female equivalent owned just STG1.28 million ($A3.08 million).

However, by 2006 the gap had narrowed to STG2.96 million ($A7.13 million) for male millionaires and STG1.97 million ($A4.75 million) for women.

Currently, women make up around 46 per cent of Britain's 376,000 millionaires - and their number is growing by almost 11 per cent a year.

Some 3,800 British women own liquid assets of more than STG5 million ($A12.05 million), Datamonitor said.

The number of women of "high net worth" status (classified as those with onshore liquid assets of more than STG200,000 ($A481,985.78)) overtook men in 2005 - with 448,100 rich women compared to 429,300 men.

Private, investment and high street banks are vying to capture a larger slice of this potential market.

But while Citigroup in the United States has gone as far as launching a service aimed specifically at women, many British banks have yet to make a move.

The majority of female-focused offerings have taken the "champagne and chocolate approach", but Lauren McAughtry, a financial services analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report, warned that women were looking for more than "a spa discount and pink website" from their private bank.

She added: "Unfortunately many banks don't yet have a specific budget to research the segment, so instead are having to focus on tactics rather than long-term goals.

"This lack of strategic thought is resulting in opportunities being missed, and leaves a potential gap in the market."

source: http://www.smh.com.au/news

1. The typical lovemaking session lasts around 15 minutes: roughly 10 to 12 minutes of foreplay and around 3 to 5 minutes of intercourse.

2. Humans aren't the only horny members of the animal kingdom doing it just for fun. Dolphins and a type of chimpanzee called the bonobo have also been observed engaging in sexual activity when they are not in their natural reproductive cycles.

3. While Viagra has made erectile dysfunction (affecting 10 to 12 percent of men) a household phrase, the opposite problem -- premature ejaculation -- is more common (affecting 24 to 27 percent of men). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing a drug called dapoxetine as a cure for this problem.

4. Crank up that thermostat... orgasms may be more intense in warmer conditions. The degree of vasocongestion, reddening or darkeing of the skin known as the "sex flush," is both more common in warmer temperatures and an indication of how intense an orgasm may be.

5. If a woman experiences orgasm during sex, she is more likely to become pregnant, since orgasmic spasms in pelvic muscles help move sperm up the vaginal canal to the uterus.

6. Homosexuality is not unique to humans. Many species have been observed engaging in homosexual activity, and in fact male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of all mammals.

7. On any given day 400,000,000 people around the world -- 1 in 17 of us -- will have sexual intercourse. Broken down further, 4,000 people are having sex at any given time.

8. Sex cures headaches. Endorphins released into our bloodstream when we have sex not only give us pleasure but also act as painkillers. Useful information to whip out the next time your partner uses a headache as a reason to say no.

9. Many elderly can and do have frequent sex. At age 70, 73% of males are still potent, and 30% of women 80 or older have still have sex.

10. 70% of women would rather eat choclate than have sex.

Sources: The Kinsey Report, Wikipedia, American Urology Association

We need to diversify our sports activities. When badminton becomes popular, all want to play badminton. There are other sports activities that are equally interesting. If badminton will fade away, what's next?

For those who plan to take the TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, or TOEIC, let me know. I have CDs and ebooks - all for FREE.

The Philippine Star
by Boo Chanco

A Filipina graced the cover of the New York Times magazine last weekend. No, she isn’t a supermodel or a celebrity. She is much better than that. She is an OFW. Rosalie Comodas Villanueva, who grew up in the tough neighborhood of Leveriza, is a nurse at Al Rahba Hospital in Abu Dhabi. She makes $24,000 a year â€" compared to the $1,200 she made while working here at home. Her parents have been taking care of her two children for years. The lengthy feature honors OFW sagas, Rosalie’s, her family’s and many others like her.

There is no more doubt that our OFWs are now a world class phenomenon. Nearly 10% of our 89 million people live abroad. About 3.6 million are OFWs, another 3.2 million have migrated permanently, largely to the United States, and 1.3 million more are thought to be overseas illegally. There are a million OFWs in Saudi Arabia alone, followed by Japan , Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan. OFWs are in at least 170 countries, and about a quarter of the world’s sailors come from the Philippines. They send home $15 billion a year, saving not just the economy but a succession of governments from a rebellion by the jobless and hungry poor.

I once made the joke that there is no need for our people to learn English because in a few more years, the world will understand Tagalog. Imagine all the Filipina nannies from Hong Kong to Rome to Toronto and London and who’s going to say they aren’t teaching more than a word of Tagalog to the young children they are taking care of. I think it was writer Jessica Zafra who once declared that we will one day conquer the world: today their bedrooms and bathrooms but tomorrow, the world!

Indeed, as Jason DeParle, the author of the lengthy NYT magazine article observed, the Philippines has exported labor for at least 100 years. The pineapple plantation workers of Hawaii, who left the Philippines in the early 1900s come to mind. Greg Macabenta traced an early colony of Filipinos in the New Orleans area, descendants of Filipinos who might have jumped ship during the Galleon trade between Acapulco and Manila.

This modern migration we are seeing today took shape 30 years ago under Ferdinand Marcos. And we were not alone. A number of Asian and Latin American countries were sending migrants abroad for the same reasons. A growing number of economists see migrants, and the money they send home, DeParle wrote, as a part of the solution to global poverty.

This view of effectively making the poor pay for development is distasteful. "It risks obscuring the personal price that migrants and their families pay. It could be used to gloss over, or even justify, the exploitation of workers. And it could offer rich countries an excuse for cutting foreign aid and other development efforts," DeParle wrote.

The worse part is how the phenomenon makes it easy for governments to develop a dependence on worker remittances. Migrants all over the world, according to DeParle, sent home some $300 billion last year. In contrast, the world spent $104 billion on foreign aid.

According to DeParle, the Philippines, which received $15 billion in formal remittances in 2006, ranked fourth among developing countries behind India ($25 billion), China ($24 billion) and Mexico ($24 billion). "Remittances make up three percent of the GDP in Mexico but 14% in the Philippines.

DeParle continues: "Despite fears that the money goes to waste, a growing literature shows positive effects. Remittances cut the poverty rate by 11% in Uganda and six percent in Bangladesh, according to studies cited by the World Bank, and raised education levels in El Salvador and the Philippines.

"Being private, the money is less susceptible to corruption than foreign aid; it is also better aimed at the needy and ‘countercyclical’ â€" it rises in response to slumps and natural disasters. Remittances help reduce government borrowing costs, saving the Philippines about half a billion dollars in interest each year… And consumption among the poor is hardly a bad thing."

The downside, DeParle writes, "is the risk of dependency, among individuals waiting for a check or for rulers (like Marcos) who use the money to avoid economic reforms… No country has escaped poverty with remittances alone. ‘Remittances can’t solve structural problems,’ said Kathleen Newland of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington research group. ‘Remittances can’t compensate for corrupt governments, nepotism, incompetence or communal conflict…’"

Then… there are the social costs. "Among the biggest worries, in the Philippines and beyond, are the ‘left behind’ kids, who are alternately portrayed as dangerous hoodlums and consumerist brats. Some people fear that their gadgets and clothes, sent from guilty parents abroad, corrupt village values."

Still, studies have found out that overall, "the migrants’ kids did better in school, had better physical health, experienced less anxiety and were more likely to attend church…one theory is that remittances compensate for the missing parent’s care. The study found migrants’ kids taller and heavier than their counterparts, suggesting higher caloric intake, and much more likely to attend private school… There is no doubt that migration has costs… The point is that not migrating has costs, too â€" the cost of wrenching poverty."

The growth in migration, DeParle admits, "has roiled the West, but demographic logic suggests it will only continue. Aging industrial economies need workers. People in poor countries need jobs. Transportation and communication have made moving easier. And the potential economic gains are at record highs… with about one Filipino worker in seven abroad at any given time, migration is to the Philippines what cars once were to Detroit: its civil religion. A million Overseas Filipino Workers left last year, enough to fill six 747s a day."

This is why for me, the OFW phenomenon is a source of hope for the future. As I told a group of foreign businessmen last week, " with all our negatives in factors of production important to investors, it seems our real plus factor lies with our human resource. I am banking my hope in that large population of OFWs who will one day come home with new ideas, new dreams and a stronger determination to make political leaders accountable."

The world knows from first hand experience with our OFWs that we are good workers and top notch professionals, making them the best incentive to come here and invest. And one of these days, their talents would be used to bring to the motherland the economic gains they helped bring for the countries they worked in.

Summa cum laude

Mikaela Irene Fudolig, a 16-year-old graduated last weekend with a degree in BS Physics and with the highest academic honor of summa cum laude. She has a 1.099 grade point average. She is the youngest student to graduate from the UP in recent years and one of only two admitted to the state university without a high school diploma and without taking the UP College Admission Test, ANC reported.

I am glad there is an early placement program at UP to take care of gifted students like her. She was only 11 when she started taking college level courses at the university. I am sure we have many other students like her whose world class brains are being wasted in an educational system that provide them little challenge.

One other great thing… she isn’t taking up nursing to work abroad. She is staying on at UP to teach. My congratulations to her, her parents and the UP professors who conceived and implemented the program! Let us now look for more Mikaelas out there and give them the education that they need.

The Exchanged Life
By Hudson Taylor

[Hudson Taylor was one of the greatest Christian missionaries of all time. He pioneered a mission work, China Inland Mission, that thrust the gospel into the interior of China. This is a letter to his sister, Amelia, written in October, 1869 from China.]

My own dear sister - So many thanks for your long dear letter . . . I do not think you have written me such a letter since we have been in China. I know it is with you as with me - you cannot, not you will not. Mind and body will not bear more than a certain amount of strain, or do more than a certain amount of work.

As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone. The last month or more has been, perhaps, the happiest of my life; and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul.

I do not know how far I may be able to make myself intelligible about it, for there is nothing new or strange or wonderful - and yet, all is new! In a word: “Whereas I was blind, now I see.”

Perhaps I shall make myself more clear if I go back a little. Well, Dearie, my mind has been greatly exercised for the past six or eight months, feeling the need personally, and for our Mission, of more holiness, life and power in our souls. But personal need stood first and was the greatest. I felt the ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation - but all was without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.

I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions, often very wearing, would cause me to forget Him. Then one’s nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin, failure, and lack of power. To will was indeed present with me, but how to perform, I found not.

Then came the question, “Is there no rescue? Must it be like this till the end - constant conflict and, instead of victory, too often defeat?” How, too, could I preach with sincerity that to those who receive Jesus, “to them gave He power to become the sons of God, ” (i.e. God-like) when it was not so in my experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting very low. I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it.

I felt I was a child of God; His Spirit in my heart would cry, in spite of all, “Abba, Father”, but to rise to my privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless. I thought that holiness was to be gradually attained by a diligent use of the means of grace. I felt that there was nothing I so much desired in this world, nothing I so much needed. But the more I pursued and strove after holiness, the more it eluded my grasp, till hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that perhaps to make heaven the sweeter, God would not give it to us in this life.

I do not think I was striving to attain it in my own strength. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength and sometimes I almost believed He would keep and uphold me. But on looking back in the evening, there was sin and failure to confess and mourn before God.

I would not give you the impression that this was the daily experience of all those long, weary months, but it tended to be a too frequent state of soul and I almost ended up in despair. And yet, never did Christ seem more precious a Savior who could and would save such a sinner! And sometimes there were seasons not only of peace but of joy in the Lord. But they were fleeting and at best there was a sad lack of power. Oh, how good the Lord has been in bringing this conflict to an end!

All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out. He was rich, but I was poor; He was strong, but I was weak. I knew full well that there was in the vine, in the root, the stem, abundant fatness; but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question.

As gradually the light dawned on me, I saw that faith was the only prerequisite to laying hold of His fullness and making it my own. But I had not this faith . . . I strove for it, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior - my helplessness and guilt seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! Unbelief was, I felt, the damning sin of the world - yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it did not come. What was I to do?

When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never seen it before. McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote (I quote from memory): “But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One.”

As I read I saw it all! “If we believe not, He remains faithful.” I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed) that He had said, “I will never leave you.” “Ah, here is rest!” I thought. “I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I’ll strive no more. For has He not promised to abide with me - never to leave me, never to fail me?” And Dearie, He never will!

But this was not all He showed me, nor one half. As I thought of the vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured directly into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the sap, the fullness, out of Him. I saw not only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine now I see is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit; and Jesus is not only that; He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for, or needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.

Oh, my dear sister, it is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and the left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves? Again, think of this bearing on prayer. Could a bank clerk say to a customer, “It was only your hand that wrote that check, not you,” or “I cannot pay this sum to your hand, but only to yourself?” No more can your prayers, or mine, be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus (i.e. not in your own name, or even for the sake of Jesus, but on the ground that we are His, His members) so long as we keep within the extent of Christ’s credit - a considerably wide limit!

If we ask anything unscriptural or not in accordance with the will of God, Christ Himself could not do that; but “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”

The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no difference where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient.

It matters little to my servant whether I send him to buy a few dollars worth of things or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; or in positions of great difficulty, much grace; or in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? There is no fear that His resources will be unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.

All this springs from the believers oneness with Christ. And since Christ is now living in my heart by faith, how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you instead of writing about it.

I am no better than before (in one sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be); but I am dead and buried with Christ - yes, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me, and “the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

I now believe that I am dead to sin. God reckons me so, and tells me to reckon myself so. He knows best. All my past experiences may have shown that it was not so; but I dare not say it is not, when He says it is. I feel and know that old things have passed away. I am as capable of sinning as ever, but Christ is realized as present as never before. He cannot sin; and He can keep me from sinning.

I am sorry to have to confess it, but I cannot say that since I have seen this light I have not sinned; but I do feel there was no need to have done so. And further - walking more in the light, my conscience has been more tender; sin has been instantly seen, confessed, pardoned; and peace and joy (with humility) instantly restored; with one exception, when for several hours peace and joy did not return - from lack, as I had to learn, of full confession, and from some attempt to justify self.

Faith, I now see, is “the substance of things hoped for” and not mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward forms of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance; you can feed on substance. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (i.e. faith in His word of promise) is power indeed, is life indeed. And Christ and sin will not dwell together; nor can we experience His presence with love of the world or carefulness about “many things.”

And now I must close. I have not said half I would like to say if I had more time. May God give you the grace to lay hold on these blessed truths. Do not let us continue to say, in effect, “Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down from above.” In other words, do not let us consider Him as far off when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body.

Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as only for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonor to our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for serving the Lord is Christ.

Your own affectionate brother,

J. HUDSON TAYLOR

my url in friendster is www.friendster.com/zionchild

I used to run that section. Many indigents were featured in the newspaper, and help was really pouring in. Hundreds of thousands of pesos had been donated to the poor.

I don't know if there is a BC staff taking care of that section now. I am now based in Thailand.

Anyhow, I wish to revive Helping Hand here, bringing the cries and agonies of our Boholano brethren to the information superhighway (the Internet).

Please register here and start posting your call for help. Thank you!

Unknown to many, I was once a student of the then Bohol National High School. I studied in Bohol High for 45 days (SY 1992-93), then I transferred to Holy Infant Academy in Anda.

I still remember some of the names of my classmates in Bohol High (e.g. Filipina Asoy, Peluche Pabutoy, Ariel Putong, Junmar Sales, Luke Lloren, Ms. Arao-arao, Donna Bella, Maureen... Help me recall their names. They were in Section 1.)

I don't really know if I have relatives in other Bohol towns. Only in Anda you can find a Ligalig. If you know of any Ligalig in Bohol other than those in Anda, please post their names here. Thanks indeed!

Published in the Bohol Chronicle...

*******
Police have filed homicide and robbery charges against the maid of a German and his Boholana wife, who were killed last week at their house in barangay Laya, Baclayon town.

SSupt Eduardo Ingking, provincial police chief, told the Chronicle that Virginia Saluta, 34, failed in a lie-detector test conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

A live-out gardener and driver also took the lie-detector test and passed it, Ingking said.

Saluta is currently detained at the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) in Camp Dagohoy, this city while Provincial Prosecutor Macario Delusa set the preliminary hearing on May 2.

Ingking said evidence so far gathered by police indicated that other persons might have helped the suspect in killing her employers, Helmut Malinka, 64, a retired airline engineer from Hamburg, Germany and his wife Eutiquia Missiona, 59, a native of Loboc town.

The bodies of the couple were found in separate bedrooms of their house in Laya in the morning of April 13 after Saluta reported to police that armed men had broken into the house more than five hours earlier.

Saluta told police that robbers broke into the house at around 2 a.m. on April 13 and tied her up at the servants' quarters before killing the couple. She said she was able to free herself later and ask for help.

Malinka was hogtied and stabbed eight times in the chest and was hit in the head. His wife suffered two stab wounds.

Police said however they found no signs of forced entry into the house. They also found it "unusual" for Saluta to call for help in the neighborhood, wearing fresh clothes, while they also recovered bloodstained clothes from the maid's quarters.

This piece of evidence, according to Ingking, is now being examined at the PNP crime laboratory in Cebu City.

Blood sample was also taken from the murdered couple's pet dog to check if intervention has been made, Inking said.

Meanwhile, the first secretary of the German Embassy, Ina Duehring Patel, lauded the Bohol police and the NBI for being "unusually efficient and prompt action" in their investigations and the filing of charges against the suspect.

Ingking immediately established a contact with the German embassy last week to report their findings of their investigations while creating Task Force Malinka, a joint probe team of the provincial PNP, CIDG and NBI.

The Bohol PNP chief have assured the German embassy that investigations are ongoing to arrest the cohorts of the maid.

I have not seen the following high school classmates for more than a decade:

Anecita Betco (Holy Infant Academy, Anda)
Leonora Orias (Holy Infant Academy, Anda)
Ariel Putong (Bohol High)
Roman Agor (Bohol High)

I will post more names later...

Published in the Bohol Chronicle

Twelve lovely candidates representing the districts of Tagbilaran City are competing in this year's search for Miss Tagbilaran.

The 12 contestants will be judged in two instances during the Talent Night/Pre-Pageant Show and the Pageant Night where the crowned Miss Tagbilaran 2007 will receive a cash price of P25,000 while PP15,000 and P10,000 will also be given to the 1st and 2nd runners-up, respectively.

This year's beautiful candidates include Joveline Silleza, 16, representing Ubujan district; Charisna Concon, 16, representing Taloto district; Joanna Carla del Corro, 16, representing Poblacion 1.

Duha ka hambugero

Tikoy: Wa ka kita nako, pre? Ganiha nagkumpayot ko paglupad sa helicopter.
Andoy: Wa ko kahangad,pre, kay naglukdo man gud ko ug bulldozer!

Ahente toktok balay, nisulod, gisabwag sa salog ang tae sa kabayo.
Ahente: "Mam, kun di ni malimpyo sa akong vacuum cleaner, kan-on ni nako.
Misis: "Kan-a jud na kay brownout ra ba.!"

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?” -Anonymous

Congrats to Ms Sheila Deloso who passed the 2006 Bar Examination. She comes from Anda, Bohol.

MYX Rhythm Bar and Restaurant

With Modern Facilities, Fine Service
Located Near Mansasa High School
For Reservations/Inquiries
Call: 038-235-6681; Globe: (038) 500-1544

Diccion Electronics Communication and Satellite System

Available at Dream's Exclusive Preferred Regional Area Distributor and Authorized Service Center

101 CPG Avenue - Fronting Bohol Cultural Center
Tagbilaran City, Bohol
for Inquiries, please call: Bohol (038)-501-8962; Cebu (032) 343-8946

Iro1: Pre, ingon sila kaning atong laway naay rabies, ang rabies makamatay.
Iro2: Unya, unsay problema?
Iro1: Gitulon naku akong laway. Kulbaan ko!

Beaches in Anda are better than Panglao's. That's according to Anos Fonacier, owner of Bohol Beach Club.

Here are few tips for broadband users that will really speedup Firefox:

1. Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining
network.http.proxy.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”

Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”

Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0?. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.

If you’re using a broadband connection you’ll load pages 2-3 times faster now.

You may download firefox browser from www.onlyinbohol.blogspot.com

source: http://www.orbitforum.com/2007/04/24/speedup-firefox/

mitiurok ang patayng dahon
paingon sa ugang yuta
ug gisilhig kini gilayon
sa huyop sa kalit nga hangin

akong gigukod ang dahon
nga naglupad palayo kanako

buot kong mosakay sa dahon

apan naunhan ko sa alindanaw

kaganina ra diay ko niya naapsan

nadungog ko ang katawa sa alindanaw
nga milanog sa kapunawpunawan

mihunong ko sa pagdagan

nanakop nalang ko ug kapan

written by m. o. ligalig

There are two flights from Manila to Tagbilaran everyday.
You can book online at www.cebupacificair.com

Cebu Pacific will then email your ticket. Print out this ticket and present it during check in.
Thank God for the technology!

Visit me at www.mikeligalig.com
Details are posted there.
I'd appreciate if you could refer me to those who are looking for a website designer.
Thanks indeed for dropping by here. And don't forget to register in "Tubag Bohol", your open-source forum.

   1. Enable a clear view of your house from the street. Keep trees and shrubs trimmed. This cuts out hiding places for would-be burglars.

   2. Mark your valuables - it makes them harder to sell so less attractive to steal. Contact your local police station to ask about engraving equipment (link to article)

   3. Keep bikes and tools locked in the garage or shed.

   4. Use motion sensing lighting to deter burglars from getting too close.

   5. Have quality locks fitted to all windows and doors.

   6. Use the locks - keep doors locked even when you at home or in the garden.

   7. Fit a lockable security screen door and keep it locked even when you are home.
   8. Consider installing an alarm as an extra deterrent.

   9. Don't leave messages on your door - it just lets people know you are not there.

  10. Don't have your name and address on your key-ring.

source: http://www.quotify.com.au

Published in the Bohol Chronicle
Written by Jes Tirol

*******
Proem

Last April 12, 2007 I attended the public presentation of HNU's Bohol Poll results held at the Lessage Hall at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It is claimed that their sampling procedures gives them an error of 5% at 95% confidence level.

The HNU result says that 98% of Boholanos have ownership or owner-like characteristic of the houses they live in. Our result at the University of Bohol Research Center has the value of 97%. However, the HNU gives only the survey results and do not delve into the probable reasons why these results came about. In the University of Bohol, we have been trying to investigate the reason why.

Poverty In Bohol

The HNU result says that 55% of Boholano household heads say that they are poor and only 2% say that they are not poor.

If 98% of the Boholanos own the house they are living in and 95% of these houses have toilet facilities, why do majority of Boholanos consider themselves to be poor?

The most probable answer will be the religious culture in Bohol. Everybody is indoctrinated to desire to go to heaven when they die.

In the Holy Bible book of Matthew Chapter 19, verse 23, it says, "Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." In verse 24, it continues, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle that for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

In m opinion the above Biblical verses are the reasons why only 2% of Boholanos will say that they are rich. Even this 2% are considered quirks of the survey because it is within the margin of error of 5%. Even our politicians, who can spend millions of pesos during elections, will say in their speeches that they are poor.

Since practically no Boholano will say that he is rich, we will need another approach to determine the actual poverty incidence in Bohol.

Above Poverty Income

Majority of the Boholanos, poor and rich alike, say that a household income of P5,000 will make them surpass poverty. The problem is, since year 2000 until the present, this amount of P5,000 has always been cited as the magic number.

If you had P5,000 in year 2000 and with the inflation rate of 6% per year you will need P7,518.15 now in order to have the same purchasing power of your money. In other words, our money has declined in value by P2,518.15 or 50.36% in the last seven years. The question is, why do most Boholanos think that P5,000 is the magic number?

Contentment is the Measure

In the Boholano cultural value, contentment in life is the objective. Since Boholanos are afraid to be called rich, or else they could not go to heaven, they opted for contentment in life as the goal. Even if Boholanos are Christians, their precept is nearer to the Buddhistic teaching of Golden Mean, that is - be on the average.

Coping Mechanism

If you will analyze the Bohol Poll Survey results, you will find how Boholanos cope with life with the desired income of P5,000 in the last seven years.

Some 14% are unemployed in Bohol. However, only 5% say that unemployment is a problem. So even among the unemployed about 9% do not view his situation as a problem. You can just imagine the contentment factor in a Bohol.

The highest incidence in unemployment at 34% is within the age level 18-24 years. This ought to be higher, even up to 100% because this age level should still be studying in college. This is an indication that the Boholanos cope with the situation by letting their children stop studying and engage in some type of income generation.

Only 12% consider the high cost and scarcity of food as a problem. It means that 88% of Boholanos have no problem with food. This is understandable because in Bohol there are two perennial sources of food. They are both "plant and forget, come back and get." The two plants are the coconut and the banana. Once these plants are grown, you can forget them and just come back to harvest and harvest and harvest. There are many vegetable plants and trees in Bohol. The rivers and seas supplies the protein needs of the Boholanos.

Easy Life

It is really very easy to live a contented life in Bohol. Food is not a problem. Education is not a problem. Entertainment is not a problem. The government is helpful and concerned.

In my analysis, the reason why the Boholanos did not increase the P5,000 desired income level for the last seven (7) years is that the government has subsidized the other needs. This will explain where the millions of pesos obtained by politicians went into. It subsidized the intangible needs of the Boholanos.

The real problem occurs when a Boholano gets sick. The P5,000 monthly income is not enough to seek treatment in a hospital. The coping mechanism of Boholanos is to ask for help from friends and relatives. Sometimes the medical missions can help but they are not available when the need occurs. So far, it is only the City of Tagbilaran that is trying to address this problem.

If and when free hospitalization will occur like that of free high school education, then Boholanos will be living in total contentment.

Published in the Bohol Chronicle.

*******
Here is a lesson abusive teachers should learn.

Hilarion Araysa, a Grade 4 teacher of Cambuac Sur Elementary School, Sikatuna town was recently found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Child Abuse for violating Section 10 of Republic Act No. 7610, paragraph 1 in relation to Section 31 (e) and (f) (Anti-Child Abuse Act).

In a 41-page decision penned by Regional Trial Court - Branch 1 (Family Court) Presiding Judge Teofilo D. Baluma, Araysa was meted the penalty of 6 years and 1 day of prison mayor as minimum to 12 years of prison mayor as maximum with the accessory penalties and a fine of P12,000.

In an amended information, the victim, then 9 years old and a Grade 4 pupil of the said school, complained that on November 17, 2000, Araysa subjected him to physical abuse by scratching his face and hitting his back, which caused him to suffer injuries.

The child likewise complained that after inflicting injuries, Araysa also threatened him, causing psychological trauma.

Traumatized by the incident, the child stopped attending classes that school year. The following school year, he enrolled again in Grade 4 but in another school and in another town.

The court ruled that the prosecution ably presented credible witnesses to prove the incident whereas the defense raised nothing but negative defenses, arguing under the guise of discipline, that the accused only guided the child and merely exercised substitute parental authority.

This argument was, however, dismissed by the court as too flimsy to be credible.

As stated by the decision, "the denial proffered by the accused was plainly and simply misplaced being inherently weak as it was a clear negative evidence which failed to overcome the positive testimonies of the witnesses of the prosecution."

The court quoted the case of People vs. Jaime Bano alias Jimmy where the Supreme Court ruled that, "unsubstantiated defenses of denial and alibi, being negative and self-serving, deserves no weight in law and cannot, therefore, be given evidentiary value over the testimonies of credible witnesses who testify on affirmative matters."

The conviction of the erring teacher was a victorious moment for the child, now 15 years old, and his family.

This case should serve as a warning to all public and private teachers alike that although they are faced with the daunting task of educating children, they do not have the liberty to inflict physical and psychological injuries upon their students.

Teachers should not forget the demarcation line between discipline and violence.

As quoted in the Decision, "Violence is not discipline and discipline is not violence.

Discipline administered by a parent or a guardian to a child does not constitute cruelty provided it is reasonable in a manner and degree that does not constitute physical or psychological injuries."

Teachers should remember that while elders have the challenge of disciplining their children or students to prepare them for the future, they should not resort to methods that tend to degrade the well-being of the children.

The prosecution was handled by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas through Prosecutor Venerando Ralph Santiago Jr. and lawyer Esther Gertrude D. Biliran. Counsel for the defense was lawyer Danilo A. Bantugan.

KaKa - Kaliwat Ni Karyapa, a club/group of Boholano writers. Buhi pa ba ta? Let me know, please. Thank you, KaKa members. Miss you all...

Judge: Mr. Erap, ano ba ang nangyari? (Erap di kumibo).
Judge: Mr. Erap, bakit di mo sagutin ang tanong?
Erap (naasar): Aba, akala ko ba hearing lang ito, bakit may speaking pa?

Bana padulong mangihi nakuratan.

Bana: Luv, giabat lagi ko samtang nagihi ko.
Asawa: Ngano man aber?
Bana: Kada pangihi nako, inig abli nako sa CR kalit lang mosiga ang suga.
Asawa: Saba diha! ikaw diay nangihi sa refrigerator!

Tatay: Anak, pa-imna ang kabaw.
Anak: Oo tay.
Nibalik ang anak...
Anak: Tay, dili man moinom ang kabaw.
Tatay: Asa man diay nimo gipainom?
Anak: Sa baso!
Tatay: Naunsa pud ka! Wa diay nimo patabani ug STRAW?!

Teban: Dok, ngano mosakit man akong dughan kada inom nako Coke, pero kun libre di mosakit?
Doctor: Ah, kahibalo nako ana, nipis imo BAGA, pero baga imo NAWONG!

NANAY: Datu najud ato anak sa U.S., nagpadala ug picture nagsandig sa awto.
Naay suwat sa likod basaha:
“Nay, nagpsalamat ko aning awtoha kay kung wa pa ni, natumba nako tungod sa kagutom.”

EMCEE: What is our national flower?
CANDIDATE: Can u give me a clue?
EMCEE: Starts with letter “S”.
Candidate: "Sagbot”?

TATAY: bagsak na pod ka! Pareho unta ka ni Pedro cgeng ka honor!
Anak: Unfair pud kon itandi ko nimo ni Pedro, Tay..
TATAY: Ngano man?
Anak: Brayt baya iyang tatay!

Estudyante nasakpan may kodigo...

Teacher: Unsa ni?
Estudyante: Prayer nako ma’am!
Teacher: Unya, nganong answers ang nakasulat?
Estudyante: Hala, gitubag ang akong prayer!

BANA gabagulbol: way au ning kinabuhia, ang taro way bugas, ang bata was gatas, ang tubig way agas, ang lamparilya way gas, pun-an pa sa asawa nga way hugas, paet!

Family Christian Fellowship (FCF) holds its weekly prayer meeting and Bible study at the second floor of Jojie's Bakeshop (Cogon Branch, beside Plaza Marcela) every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. You are invited to join us.

Anak: Tay, asa diay akong grief?
Tatay: Kaw bataa ka! Dili gihapon ka kbalo mo litok.. ingna brief…
Anak: Aw! Asa man?
Tatay: Naa sa kuwarto gi â€" hammer!

Mobile Phone: +668-4655-8775
Give me a call if you need assistance while traveling in Thailand.

And the verdict is... Register here and cast your votes NOW!

www.boholhouseandlot.com domain is now for sale. Bidding starts at P5,000.

Advertise your properties here in Tubag Bohol. It's FREE. It's UNLIMITED.

TGI Purified Drinking Water
Address: Upper De La Paz, Cortes, Bohol
Tel No. 503-9364
Cell No. 0928-2057888 and 0926-7063719

Roseth and Prince Paul Ranara should be included in the Outstanding Boholanos on the Planet. They excel in Thailand. I really admire the husband and the wife. They are talented and hard working Boholanos.

I recommend Glenn Lumantao to be included in the Who's Who in Bohol. This guy really rocks. His paintings are amazing.

Listing in this page is forever FREE. Unlimited.

I'd like to recommend www.indeed.com, one of the best job search engines I found so far.
Thousands of jobs are posted daily.

Or you may also try www.jobstreet.com.ph
Many of the jobs posted in jobstreet are related with the call center industry.

Why Tubag Bohol?

Because we want information to be free, unlimited, so that all can actively participate in building a nation.

We want to revolutionize how information is being shared among Boholanos, Filipinos, and the rest of the world citizens.

And the greatest source of story and information is

YOU

We're sharing lives here. Register now. It's absolutely FREE!


Sincerely yours,

Mike

This will help us determine who is on the winning side.

Tubag Bohol was launched just yesterday. So it's still fresh from the oven. Be the first to taste it...
Please do register and start posting topics of your interest. And invite your friends to join us here.

Regards,
Tubag Bohol..."We Listen" Team

My friend, Raul Oblenda, passed away Wednesday last week. I went to his office to visit him. But on that day he died of cardiac arrest. I felt so sad. I should have visited him a day before. But who would know that your friend will die on the next day?

Don't give your money to any agency. Research and investigate first before you trust an agency.

There is a man in Tagbilaran who is recruiting Boholano teachers for deployment in Thailand. Please tell your friends that no schools in Thailand are requiring an applicant to go through an agency. That agency in Bohol, based in Tagbilaran, is simply bogus. I just wonder why the agency (kono) got a permit. Ignorance is dangerous. Maybe the city government does not know anything about the background of that recruiter (kono). Spread this information, please. According to my friend, Mae Supremo (daughter of a Bohol judge), who is an English lecturer in Thailand, "daghan na kaayo ang nabiktima sa illegal recruitment sa Tagbilaran." Remember, anything that you don't know will cost you. Please tell your friends about this. We need to stop this.

There are no teaching jobs in Thailand offered by that agency. If you are qualified to teach, you can come to Thailand with your passport only. The Thailand Immigration will give you a tourist visa upon arrival. And you can stay in Thailand for up to 90 days with a border exit (two times in two months). Within the 90-day period, you can use this period for job hunting. You can do it by yourself. No agency. No recruitment. No broker. Just yourself...

www.tbtk.com is for sale. The domain name has been registered by another party. There is a website for Tigum Bol-anon Tibuok Kalibutan but it is not that updated. I will post TBTK updates here.

I visited Bohol last week. It shocked me that political dynasty is so widespread. For example, in Guindulman, it's a son-father tandem for mayor and vice-mayor (who is the incumbent mayor). In the third district, Cong. Jala pushed his son to run for congressman. The father Jala will end his term this year. He has been a congressman for three terms. But he cannot let go of the temptation and the power. He put up his son, a 27-year-old new bar passer, for the congressional race. Pabagaay nalang gyud ug nawong ang politiko tungod sa kahakog sa gahom. More than half of all towns in Bohol have political bets under one family/clan.

Here in Thailand there is an increasing number of Boholanos seeking greener pasture. I should acknowledge Mr. Gilbert Montera, who invited me to come to Thailand. Gilbert and his wife (Lilibeth) and and his son (Geebee) are now based in Vietnam.

A high-fat breakfast can lead to an unhealthy day

By Matt Ford

Common dieting advice suggests that as long as 'bad' foods are eaten in moderation and tempered with a host of healthy choices, they are not terribly bad for you. A new study published in this month's edition of the Journal of Nutrition demonstrates that a single high-fat meal in an otherwise healthy lifestyle causes a person to have a stronger adverse physiological reaction to stress than when eating a balanced diet.

The study, which was carried out by a team at the University of Calgary, Concordia University, and Pennsylvania State University measured the physiological response in a group of healthy volunteers to stressful situations. The volunteer students were broken into two groups, one was given a fast-food breakfast from McDonalds while the other was given a breakfast consisting of dry cereal with skim milk, cereal bars and non-fat yogurt. The 30 volunteers fasted the night before then consumed meals which contained the same number of caloriesâ€"the low-fat meal had supplements to balance it for sodium and potassium.

Two hours later both groups were subjected to four different tasks; a mathematical test, a public-speaking exercise, submerging arms in ice water, and having a blood-pressure cuff kept on their arm. Along with each test, a battery of cardiovascular measurements was taken on each patient. Among them was blood pressure, heart rate, and blood vessel resistance.  It was found that those who had the high-fat breakfast had a greater reactivity to the stressful tasks that they had to complete.

According to Dr. Travis Campbell, the study's lead author, "... it's been well documented that a high-fat diet leads to artherosclerosis and high blood pressure, and that exaggerated and prolonged cardiovascular responses to stress are associated with high blood pressure in the future. So when we learn that even a single, high-fat meal can make you more reactive to stress, it's cause for concern because it suggests a new and damaging way that a high-fat diet affects cardiovascular function." Although Dr. Campbell is realistic, he goes on to say that "telling people to never eat something is probably not a good way to promote a better diet." He recommends further research into the mechanisms at work here.

The task of building this site is too big. Can you help "Tubag Bohol"?

You will be happy you did...

Just register and start posting topics of special interest.

Thank you very much!


Sincerely,
Tubag Bohol administrator

(GMA7) - Filipinos rank 4th among the largest Asian groups in New Zealand, according to New Zealand's 2006 Culture and Identity Report.

The Chinese group is biggest with 147,570 people, followed by the Indians with 104,583, the Koreans with 30,792, and Filipinos with 16,938.

There are 354,552 Asians in New Zealand accounting for 9.2% of the national population, which now stands at 4,181,060, the latest census report said.

Although Asians remain the third largest group in the country, next only to Europeans and Maoris (New Zealand’s native people of Polynesian descent), their populations grow fastest â€"that is from 238,176 in 2001 to 354,552 in 2006.

Filipinos expect their number would keep swelling as many are coming to find a home in this country known as the “Land of the Long White Cloud."

Victor, 40, a certified public accountant from Cebu, who arrived January of 2006, expects to get a permanent resident (PR) visa status next month. He said once he gets his PR, his wife and three kids in Cebu will join him soon.

Victor works as an accounting staff at the New Zealand Post, the country’s postal services agency.

Highly skilled and professional Filipinos who migrated in last five years had hard time hunting for a job.

“If you are a nurse or an IT specialist or an accountant you can easily find a job that fits your credentials. Otherwise, you end up doing menial or manual jobs, regardless of credentials you have," said Vivian, 36, former sales executive and a graduate from a premier university in Manila.

She said she first worked as a factory worker for a year in Auckland before moving to the capital city Wellington, where she works as a clerk in a government office.

The two Filipinos have observed the growing diversity in New Zealand’s population and culture, especially with the increase of the number of Asians.

They said this diversity in ethnic origins creates a pool of talented and skilled workers that New Zealand employers may wish take advantage of. â€" GMANews.TV

1. Do it now. Procrastination leads to getting snowed under a pile of work.

2. Use your trash can liberally. Born organized people don’t think twice about throwing things away. They aren’t tempted to keep old worn out appliances around “just in case.” They don’t worry about whether they can recycle that mayonnaise jar or not. They just toss things.

3. Get into a routine. B.O.’s don’t wait for time to clean the whole bathroom. They wipe off the sink every time they notice it’s splashed. They shine the mirror every day while brushing their teeth. They run sudsy water to use while cooking, so stirring spoons and saute pans are washed before the meal even goes on the table.

4. Put it where it goes. Disorganized people tend to stash things until they can figure out a better place for it or decide whether to even keep it or not. B.O.’s go ahead and toss it, file it, or otherwise deal with it before it becomes clutter.

5. Write dates on your calendar, and then remember to check the calendar every day. B.O.’s don’t have to be told.

6. Pick up after yourself. (How embarrassing that we adults need to be reminded to do this!) Periodically look around for things you’ve left out of place â€" a used coffee cup, the mail, or a book you’re reading. Put them away before the mess gets out of hand.

7. Invest in organizing gadgets and then use them. Office organization is one area that benefits from file drawers, in/out boxes, and desk organizers. However, if the system is unrealistic or unhandy, you won’t use it.

8. Don’t be afraid of a little expenditure of energy. Many times the small tasks of putting things away and keeping things clean take much less time and energy than we think they will. I find that if I push myself a bit, these tasks are much simpler done more frequently, while the job is still small.

9. Get yourself a daily planner, and use it. Cilley points out that B.O.’s don’t have to be told how to use a calendar or a planner, but on her website, she gives directions for gaining these organizational skills. Her directions for creating a “control journal” in effect fix readers up with free organizing planners.

Anyone, whether naturally inclined to organization or not, can benefit from implementing these suggestions. For those of us who struggle with disorganization, a few simple tips like these can give us a real boost in efficiency.

Barbara Wood is a writer and educator living with her family in the Missouri Ozarks.
source: lifehack.org

Taliwala sa kasagbotan
mihunong ta sa paglakaw.

Gihangak tang duha
nga nanubay niadtong
gamayng dalan
paingon sa langob
nga bugnawng kaligoan.

Naggunitay ta
sa atong mga kamot
samtang gilatas
ang mga kabatoan
ug tonokong sagbot.

Nahumod sa singot
ang atong mga lawas.

Gani, ang singot
sa imong agtang
mikanaog sa imong ilong.

Naglagiting ang kainit
sa adlaw - sama kainit
sa imong paggunit
sa atong handumanan.

Nagtinutokay tang duha,
ug unya, napalong
ang adlaw
sa atong mga ngabil.

by M. Ligalig

written by M. Ligalig
(for my father)

Lab-as pa sa akong panumduman
niadtong nisaka ko sa entablado
sa lungsod sa Carmen.
Katorse na ka tuig ang nakalabay
diin gibatbat ko ang balak
nga gisige mo ug tudlo kanako
pamasin mahimo kong mananaog
sa una kong salmot
sa tigi sa mga balak.

Hapit intawon mabulintang
sa lingkoranan ang mga husgado
tungod sa pagpaghak ug pangatawa
sa dihang gitapos ko ang balak
sa pag-ingon:

"Kung makakita ka ug linalang
diha sa tiilan sa Chocolate Hills
nga nagwandog-wandog
sama sa usa ka tawong bu**** -
ako kana! - ang nahilo
sa gugma mong gitingal ngari kanako.

"Busa, iuli ang yawi sa kasilyas
aron didto ko ipadagayday
ang akong mga luha sa pagmahay."

Ug nanghugyaw ug pangatawa
ang mga manan-away
ilabina ang mga dalaga.

Pagkanaog ko sa entablado,
gisinggitan ko sa mga dalaga ug:
"Iuli ang yawi sa kasilyas."

Giduko ko lang ang akong ulo
ug giluom ang aslom nga pahiyom.

Ambot ug ila ba kong gibiay-biay
o kaha sila nanghimaraot kanako.

Sa akong pagpauli sa atong balay,
ako kang gisukmatan
nganong imo kong gitudluan
ug balak nga binuang bisan tuod
ako usab giganahan.

Mipaghak ka lang ug katawa, Pa -
ug hangtud karon wala mo pa
ayoha atong kasilyas nga way trangka.

written by M. Ligalig

Nakalimtan ko na ang kahapdos sa imong pagbiya,
nalubong na sa kalimot kadtong kangul-ngol
sa samad nga migisi sa mga ugat ning kasing-kasing
Dili na ako mahinumdum sa kuko sa kadlawon
nga mikamras sa akong lapa-lapa dihang nanamilit
   ka kanako
Wala ko na mahanduraw ang kasakit sa kabukogan
dihang midat-og kanako ang kalibutan
sulod sa tulo ka adlaw ug gabii, diin giantos
ko paglad-ok ang pait nga mga luha, mga luha
nga gisangag sa pagsalimuang - daw tawong bu**** -
gimino diha sa mga eskina sa damgong napusgay!

Published in the Bohol Chronicle

More "political families" have emerged in the province as candidates filed their certificates of candidacies last week.

Refusing to relinquish their leadership as they either end their terms of office or seek higher elective positions, politicians are again showing they can build their own political dynasties, whether in their towns and districts, literally handing their office from one family member to another.

Buenavista town's mayoralty and vice mayoralty post have been held by husband and wife Leandro Tirol and now incumbent Mayor Elsa Tirol.

The couple has opted to seek re-election on their current posts in the coming May elections.

Leandro have been town mayor from 1995 to 2004 and fielded his wife in the 2004 elections as mayor while he slid to vice mayor.

In Albur, last-termer Mayor Efren Tungol is now running as vice mayor with his son, Ephraim Tungol, as mayoralty bet under Lakas-CMD.

The father and son tandem will be challenged by come-backing Mayor Jose Ugdoracion and running mate Cirilo Jalad under the PDP-Laban banner.

Meanwhile, Inabanga incumbent Mayor Josephine Jumamoy, who is running once again for board member in the second district, has fielded her son Jose Jono Jumamoy for town mayor.

The Jumamoy's have been holding the town's top post since former Mayor Jose Jumamoy who has decided to lie low from politics after having been rumored to run as mayor when his wife's term ends this June. The couple has also allowed their daughter, Jovanna Jumamoy, to run for councilor in the coming polls.

Similar to what is happening in Albur, incumbent and last-termer Mayor Orculo Granada (Lakas) is now the vice mayoralty candidate and running mate of son, Renanti Granada, who is running for mayor.

Meanwhile, former Dimiao Mayor Sylvia Adame is again seeking to recapture the town's top post as her husband, incumbent Mayor Alejandrino Adame has opted not to seek re-election.

Likewise, outgoing Carmen Mayor Pedro Budiongan has also fielded his wife Jeen Budiongan for mayor. She will be running under Lakas-CMD.

In Baclayon, it's a head-on clash among members of the Uy clan.

Baclayon last-termer Mayor Benecio Uy is supporting the mayoralty bid of his wife Elena Uy. The lady Uy is running with incumbent vice mayor Urcisina Ongcoy under the Lakas banner.

Running against them is the tandem of former vice mayor Alvin Uy and Marilyn Uy, wife of re-electionist provincial board member Felix Uy.

Members of the family of the three Bohol congressmen are also seeking elective positions in their respective congressional districts.

Rep. Eladio Jala, whose third term ends this June, has endorsed his son Adam Relson, who in fact secured the Lakas- CMD official nomination in the third district's congress seat.

Rep. Roberto Cajes, on the other hand, has allowed wife Judith Cajes to challenge incumbent Trinidad Mayor Osias Flor. The lady Cajes is the official Lakas bet.

The couple's daughter is currently serving as an ex-officio member of the provincial board representing the Federated Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

The influential Chatto clan of Balilihan showed their dominance as incumbent and last termer Mayor Dominisio Chatto has opted to run as vice mayor while Vice Mayor Victoria Chatto, mother of Rep. Edgar Chatto, is running for mayor.

The solon's brother-in-law city councilor Jose Antonio Veloso is also running as city vice mayor.

The Tirol clan continues to field members of the family to sustain the political clout started by former Gov. David Tirol. His sister-in-law provincial BM Godofreda Tirol is now running for vice governor while his younger sister is re-electionist City Vice Mayor Nuevas Tirol-Montes.

Re-electionist provincial board member Amalia Tirol is the wife of the former governor while their daughter, Leah Tirol-Magno, is running for city councilor. (Kit Bagaipo)

Published in the Bohol Chronicle

Tagbilaran City - Former city mayor Joe Torralba's camp is questioning the alleged P22.8-million intelligence fund used during the 3-year incumbency of City Mayor Dan Lim.

In a press statement released by the Torralba-Veloso camp, they said that in the interest of transparency, the public should be given an accounting of the said amount which was withdrawn from January 2005 to March 16, this year.

Mayor Lim, for his part, dismissed the allegations of misuse of the intelligence fund raised by the Torralba camp.

"If indeed this amount is true, I wonder how it passed the Sangguniang Panlungsod that includes Betty Torralba, Toto Veloso, Archie Sarmiento, Dackie Abellana, Lucio Balbin and Edi Borja without any opposition," Mayor Lim said.

While intelligence funds are confidential in nature, Torralba's group alleged that the P800,000 intelligence fund during the time of former mayor Torralba pales in comparison with the P5-million withdrawn by Mayor Lim in one day, in July 25, 2005, that was likewise charged to the intelligence fund account.

Torralba's group claimed that P2-million was released on the account last March 16, two weeks before the start of the campaign for local candidates which they fear would be used to bankroll the Lim-Montes ticket's campaign.

On January 8, 9 and 15, this year, a total of P1.5-million was withdrawn, P500,000 for each day.

In 2005, the city government reportedly spent a total of P12.3-million in confidential expenses.

Last year, P7-million was allegedly spent for intelligence expenses, the Torralba camp claimed.

From January this year, a total of P3.5-million have been released on the account.

The group also claimed that in November 9, 2005, P290,215 was charged to the intelligence fund allegedly as a reimbursement to the mayor for expenses on the birthday of Vice Mayor Nuevas Tirol-Montes.

While the city government was spending millions charged to the intelligence fund, the Torralba-Veloso camp said that the City PNP was complaining for the inadequate support they are getting from City Hall.

The recent releases from the fund, the group claimed, were used to buy-out Lakas-CMD bets who bolted to join Lim and Montes.

EXAMINED BY COA

On the other hand, Mayor Lim noted that it is the city council that approves all appropriations and it is surprising why the councilors identified with Torralba are making a big issue out of it now instead of during the deliberations when they approved it.

"What were they doing the past three years? Were they sleeping during the sessions?

Why did they approve a budget that they now accuse of being bloated?" Lim asked.

The mayor added that the expenditures for the intelligence fund are all examined by the Commission on Audit (COA), contrary to what the group of Torralba and Veloso are alleging.

"It is either they are ignorant of the procedures or they just want to fool the people," Lim said.

The mayor explained that the COA conducts a regular audit on intelligence fund expenditures.

Lim said both COA and the executive department are not allowed to release the expenditures because they involved sensitive matters that will endanger lives.

"I am not going to give an accounting of the intelligence fund just because desperate politicians have no more issues to throw against me," he added.

Lim accused Torralba of mental dishonesty in raising the issue when he was aware that it has already been audited by the COA and that the report could not be made public.

"I suggest that we discuss the over-price of the Agora and the new City Hall instead," he added.

Lim said he is waiting for Torralba to accept his challenge for a public debate on corruption at the city hall during his term.

Published in the Manila Times. The murder took place on April 13. Suspects are still at large.

Baclayon, Bohol - A GERMAN and his wife were brutally murdered by suspected burglars that had broken into their house in a remote village in Bohol Friday, police said.

In its report to Camp Crame, the Bohol Provincial Police Office identified the victims as Helmut Malinka and his wife, Tequia.

Malinka was reportedly stabbed and shot, while his wife was stabbed several times, said Insp. John Basalo, chief investigator of the BPPO.

Reports said two burglars armed with a hunting knife and a revolver broke into Malinka’s house in Barangay Laya in Baclayon town, about 2 a.m.

The suspects hogtied the victims’ househelp, Virginia Saluza, before killing the Malinka couple and ransacking their belongings, the report said.

Saluza was able to untie herself after the suspects left and reported the crime to the Baclayon police station.

Investigators had yet to determine the total amount of valuables that the suspects took from the Malinka residence. (Anthony Vargas)

Published in the Bohol Standard, April 22, 2007 Edition

NOW, lets talk garbage.

THE whole of Bohol, with a total population of 1.2 million people could dump an average of 880 tons of garbage daily.

Tagbilaran City, the lone highly urbanized center in Bohol contributes an estimated 92.5 tons of both biodegradable, non biodegradable and hazardous wastes from city hospitals.

Project that mess to Bohol’s dream of averting another Boracay garbage spill and the idea of environment protection here could easily go down the drain.

And strewn with it is Bohol’s bid as eco-cultural tourism capital in the region.

There is one last solution however, and the practice of indiscriminate dumping should be stopped, or Bohol turns into a huge garbage dump soon, environmentalists raise the alarm.

The solution, ecological waste managers press is for a reliable waste management that complies with the existing laws, they insist.

Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 provides for the institutional mechanism, comprehensive waste management through segregation of waste at source, recycling, composting and the operation of waste management facilities, says Chit Bigornia of the Philippine Ecological Governance Program-2 (EcoGov-2) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ecogov has been technically assisting local government units here in coming up with comprehensive waste management programs and sustaining them.

To highlight the milestones, such initiatives get to the exhibit on environmental stewardship in action at the atrium of the Bohol Quality Mall running from April 18-22.

Here, environmentalists get the chance to advance their call for more political muscle to support the frameworks of ecological solid waste management act. This as Bohol’s celebrates the earth week April 18-22 through a variety of activities ranging from exhibits to fora and coastal and sea clean-ups.

“If the people continue to use the seas as their garbage dump, sea turtles could mistake floating plastics as jellyfish and eating them may cause the turtles painful death,” states an unnamed marine biologist working with the Bohol Marine Triangle Project.

As Bohol also implements anti incineration of wastes in compliance with the clean air act, local government units play a key role in managing their waste programs to propel Bohol’s eco-cultural tourism dream, Ecogov authorities said.

As the election nears, the mulled Metro Tagbilaran common waste facility has become a hot issue with host town Alburquerque opposition camp capitalizing on anti common-landfill operation.

The most prominent issue raised has been the global “not in my backyard” stand.

But now faced with the ecological solid waste management law and the accumulation of fines for failure to operate the sanitary landfills, Bohol towns temporarily dip into segregation and recycling to recover usable garbage to buffer the bulk of garbage.

In Jagna, for example, while the town has started operating its facility, it has also banked on the recycling of wastes, and a Funchum fun slip ons may be a trendy summer wear to watch, says Catalino Berro Jr, the town’s information officer.

So far in Bohol, only Carmen has been able to operate its sanitary landfill in accordance to law.

Published in the Bohol Standard

It could be ignorance of the law or blatant violation of requirements in filing certificates of candidacies (COCs) for the May 14 elections that is causing a head ache for this candidate.

Former governor and congressional aspirant for the third district congressional seat Rene Relampagos has filed a petition to disqualify another candidate for the same position Dionisio Balite on the fact that his (Balite’s) certificate of candidacy was notarized by no other than his own son-in-law Salvador Diputado.

“Balite’s act in knowingly and willfully allowing his son-in-law to perform the function of a notary public is in direct, gross and blatant violation of Section 3 {c), Rule IV (Powers and Limitations of Notaries Public) of Supreme Court en banc A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, otherwise known as the “2004 Rules on Notarial Practice,” Relampagos said in his petition.

The rules states “a notary public is disqualified from performing a notarial act if he is a spouse, common-law partner, ancestor, descendant or relative by affinity or consanguinity of the principal within the fourth civil degree.”

The COC of Balite therefore “was not validly, duly and legally sworn” as required under the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, the petition pointed out.

Relampagos stated further that “if the notary public (in this case Atty. Salvador Diputado, son-in-law of Balite) does not have the capacity to notarize a document, but does so anyway, then the document should be treated as unnotarized.”

Under Section 3 of the Omnibus Election Code, it provides that “no person shall be eligible for any elective public office unless a sworn certificate of candidacy has been filed during the prescribed period.”

Relampagos asked the Comelec to cancel Balite’s candidacy with “more than sufficient ground” based on a defective, unnotarized COC.

The Bohol Standard tried to contact lawyer Diputado for an answer through his cellphone number 09215009631 but failed until press time.

A recorded message said, “number dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area.”

“The quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.”

“A woman knows the face of the man she loves like a sailor knows the open sea.” -Honore de Balzac

Hotels and Resorts

BOHOL TROPICS RESORT
Graham Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
Tel. No. 0384113019

CASA JUANA
C P G Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113331

CORALANDIA
45 Graham Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113445

DAO DIAMOND HOTEL
Km 3 Dao Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384115568

EL PORTAL INN
C. Torralba Sr. Building Belderol Street Cagon
6300 Tagbilaran City, Bohol
(038)4112124

HOTEL LA ROCA
Graham Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113009

MATIG-A LODGE
26 P Burgos Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384112068

MERIDIAN HOTEL
4 S Matig-A Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113060

METRO CENTRE HOTEL & CONVENTION CENTER
Cpg Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384112589

OLMAN'S VIEW RESORT
16 Graham Av Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113421

SOLEDAD SUITES
Lou Square J C Borja Corner M. Parras Street
6300 Tagbilaran City, Bohol
(038)4113074

VILLA ALZHUN TOURIST INN & RESTAURANT
V P Inting Tagbilaran, Bohol
0384113893

Published in the Bohol Standard on April 22, 2007

Bohol - Is the reported slay plan to eliminate city mayoralty candidate Jose V. Torralba for real or a plain media hype.

In a report published by the Bohol Chronicle in its Wednesday edition, incumbent city mayor Dan Lim said, “the allegations of a slay plot against his rival former city mayor Joe Torralba is nothing but "a bad script."

Lim dared Bohol PNP provincial director Senior Supt. Edgardo Ingking and newly designated city police chief Supt. Abner Catalla, to look into the matter and interrogate the "confessed witness" and "interpreter" to the negotiation that allegedly took place in Marantao, Lanao del Sur, Mindanao to engage the services of guns for hire to kill a certain Mayor Torralba.

A sworn statement executed by one Ali Inolaca Hassan, resident of Marantao, Lanao del Sur and the self-confessed interpreter to the negotiation that took place between a certain Commander Gagamba and three alleged intermediaries to contract a gun for hire, allege that the target of the murder plot is a certain Mayor Torralba of Tagbilaran, Bohol.

According to Hassan, the assassination would be made to look like a vehicular accident so as not to be linked to politics.

Hassan said the gun-for-hire contractors wanted only two would-be assassins but Commander Gagamba recommended three men. The three were identified in the affidavit as Mangola Alip alias Mac or Abet, who is reportedly the triggerman in the assassination of Lanao del Norte Gov. Abalos, Arnel Salonga alias Asiong Fireman and Faisal Ombra Sarip alias Sarip.

The contract price was said to be P300,000 plus a mobilization and firearms refund of P50,000.

However, the " contract was not closed" as the three gun-for-hire contractors promised to come back, Hassan further said. According to his affidavit, he informed Torralba about the plan to murder him in order to protect Muslims here in Tagbilaran who might be affected when fellow Muslims would be identified as the assassins.

"When there is an attempt on your life, first thing you do to is call the police station. Only a desperate politician will go the newspapers and place a one-page advertisement," Mayor Lim said.

"This is a welcome development that provides a comic relief to the campaign," the mayor added.

Lim said he would like to have a copy of the alleged confession so that he can send this to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to support his request to place the city under Comelec control.

Hi Mari,

We will ask the Boholanos who are based in Bohol. We will contact you once we have the information you want.