MikeLigalig.com

good move... i have always wanted to have a second, and perhaps a third tattoo but i have always been pushed in the defensive position each time i think about health and sanitation issues. sure, they use brand new needles but what about the tip of the tattoo machine into which the needles are inserted? we cannot know for sure if these have been tainted by the blood of the previous customer. so, there's always the risk of getting blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis B (which is a deadly form of hepatitis) and HIV. i just hope that the new measure will require autoclaving of instruments before using.

hahaha... another useless exercise... a case of history repeating itself... a classic example of the short memory of filipinos... during the marcos regime, everyone was required to plant trees. from kids in school that are about to graduate from elementary, high school, or college, to businesspeople securing business permits from the munisipyo. everyone who had an official transaction to do. everyone was require to plant a certain number of trees complete with a spot map for reference and as evidence that one indeed planted the required number of trees. but where are these trees now? well, some were indeed planted along the highways only to be cut down years later as they matured to make way for road widening, and that puts us to where we started... it is very easy to plant a tree. even my 5-year-old daughter can do that. the challenge lies in caring for it until it is able to take care of itself to ensure that it grows into a tree. but more importantly, we must know WHERE to plant the trees. land resources have different uses and we cannot plant trees in the middle of the rice field or any other place that we take fancy at. WE HAVE TO PLANT THE TREES WHERE THEY MATTER.  THE WATERSHEDS IS WHERE TREES MATTER. needless to say, we must plant trees in our watersheds. so, unless this tree planting initiative is designed to be done in our watersheds to improve water supply for drinking and irrigation, and prevent soil erosion, flooding and siltation, then this will just be another fruitless exercise... speaking of loren legarda who claims to promote environmentalism, i think that she is a BOGUS environmentalist. being in her second term in the senate, there is nothing substantial that she has done for the environment. she lives in manila and is witness to constant floodings each time it rains because of the clogging of waterways with solid waste mostly composed of plastics, and yet she has not done anything to mitigate the situation. she could have easily sponsored a law that will require all big business establishments (especially those in malls) dealing in dry goods to use unbleached recycled paper bags, and control the use of plastic bags in wet markets. she could have sponsored a bill that will require all goods manufacturers to minimize the use of elaborate and multi-layered product packaging whose use is only once and is destined to be thrown away after purchase. these laws could have drastically decreased the volume of solid waste that these materials will bring, but environmentalist loren legarda has been busy doing something else it seems.

one thing that bohol has not been doing anything about is the production of fresh water fish as alternative to marine fish. obviously the so-called fishery experts in bohol have not been able to grasp the fact that overfishing and the use of illegal fishing means will forever continue, despite the bantay dagat which does not have enough gasoline to patrol the seas anyway, until fisherfolks are given alternative sources of livelihood... on the other hand, demand for fish products can be met through commercial production of fresh water fish in order to lessen the pressure on our marine resources. one thing that bohol can do is to promote the establishment of fish farms -- small scale or commercial scale -- that will cater to the production of bangus and hito.  this is the most sustainable way to go.

whatever reason the ilonggos have for opposing the establishment of a coal-fired power plant in their place, i salute them for their collective action which included the provincial leaderships of the whole island. as has been mentioned in another thread, coal is a fossil fuel that does the most destruction to all plant and animal life because of the large volume of carbon dioxide it emits that causes changes in weather patterns, and sulfur dioxide which causes acid rain... there ought to be a law that requires the DENR from getting the countersignature of the provincial governor of the province in which a project which is required to have an ECC, before the DENR secretary can actually approve ECC applications. in this way all ECCs issued will have, in effect, a sort of pre-approval by the provincial governor. on the other hand, the DENR cannot issue an ECC without first informing-- and eventually getting the approval and signature of-- the governor.

DCWD should be careful about tapping surface water as potable water source. this is because open water sources face a high risk of being the dumping ground of various types of insecticides, pesticides, heavy metals and bacteria such as e. coli which is normally found in human and animal waste. only recently, the waters from the panigan-tamugan rivers were tested and was reported by the private laboratory that conducted the test that the sample was found positive for the presence of endosulfan, a highly toxic chemical whose use has been banned (except for del monte and dolefil). although the fertilizer and pesticide authority has announced that monitoring to ensure its non-sale and non-use is a regular agency activity and that most likely the endosulfan traces that were found in the water samples were probably used by banana plantations located on the upper portions of the tamugan and panigan area before the chemical was banned, it does not eliminate the presence of the high toxic chemical in the water that DCWD plans to tap as potable water source. the DCWD must be required to install a water purification facility that goes beyond the simple introduction of chlorine into the system which for the most part can only eliminate bacteria like e. coli. most importantly, the facility must have the capability to eliminate toxic chemicals (banned and/or controlled), heavy metals and other water pollutants to ensure that the water is genuinely potable and does not cause long-term health risks on the drinking population.

it is amusing that americans would actually donate bomb detection tools that would end up being "housed in the EOD offices of the regional bomb squad unit" of the PNP in general santos city. authorities in mindanao (PNP, AFP, as well as US marine advisers) are all aware that the MO of terrorists have always involved detonting bombs aboard buses. incidents such as these have happened in places like kidapawan, digos, koronadal, etc. obviously, the bombers get aboard these buses along certain routes and get off when the bus reaches the terminal with just a few minutes left before the bomb actually detonates. in other words, most bombings in mindanao occur aboard buses at bus stations. which makes me wonder what good a bomb detection machine can do inside a police office.

it's kind of ironic that the philippines has been "extolled" for its commitment in using geothermal energy as an alternative power source because only recently the government approved the construction of several coal-fired power plants in the country. coal is a fossil fuel alongside oil and natural gas. the refining and burning of fossil fuels are the major contributors of carbon dixode emissions that contributes to global warming. their refinery and use is also responsible for the generation of sulfur dioxide which are emitted into the atmosphere which causes acid rain.  acid rain, in turn, disrupts biodiversity and kills plant and animal life including coral reefs which are the breeding and nursery grounds for a lot of marine life. among these three fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) coal is the most dangerous because it emits the most volume of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, while natural gas emits approximately one-half of what coal does. oil (which is refined to gasoline, diesel and other fuel derivatives) is around middle ground in terms of carbon dixide emissions. nonetheless, all fossil fuels, although in varying degrees, certainly harm not only the environment but people as well... what the philippines can do to veer away from fossil fuel dependence is to encourage and support the use of solar energy as a renewable alternative energy source. unlike geothermal energy which is dependent on the existence of areas with hot springs, solar energy source is available everywhere and in a tropical country like the philippines,s the sun is almost always out the whole year round. the one single thing that makes the use of solar power unpopular as alternative energy source is because of its relatively high cost compared to conventional non-renewable methods. but this is exactly the challenge: find a way to cut the cost of solar power use in such a way that it becomes an economically viable alternative to fossil fuel use. how can the government can do this? (1) put to use the bright boys we have at the DOST; (2) sponsor a solar power making contest that will make use of cheaper materials. for all we know, this might only take a bunch of second year high-school students from the philippine science high school :-)

the philippines maybe the second largest user of geothermal power but this may be because its potential as a power source has been tapped to the fullest. once all areas with hots springs that have enough strength to turn power turbines to work have been developed, you can't get any further... the recent discovery of a substantial deposit of oil in palawan does not really do anything good for the country in the long term on two accounts: (1) even if sold locally it will still be priced basing on world market prices. this being the case, the only thing it can probably do is generate additional revenues for the government so that the vultures in it will have a bigger amount of money to steal. nothing for the hungry majority; (2) oil is still a non-renewable fuel which is a major contributor of carbon dioxide emissions. carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

passing off a locally-made product as imported is in fact a violation of existing philippine trade laws. but because of the mentality of many filipinos who like to patronize anything that is made in a first world country particularly the USA, mislabelling becomes an easy ploy for unscrupulous businesses to get people to buy their fake products.

bol-anon_ko: in the philippines, manufacturers like to pass off locally-made clothes as made in the USA so that people will buy it. call it colonial mentality... but in the USA, clothes are labelled as made in philippines, made in china, made in vietnam, made in what-have-you. this is because american companies really do have their products in any of these thirdd world countries because labor cost is cheap. even if they have to pay for the shipment of finished goods manufactured in the third world, the cost is still lower compared to having them made in the USA... it is not really ironic, it is just plain and simple economics.

grazie: this place in katapatagan (which is located in a hilly part of digos city) is where you will find the longest zip line in the whole philippines at almost 400 meters long and approximately 150 meters high. the temperature there is similar to that of baguio and it can get foggy at times even during the daytime. they do have a cable lift (which some people call a cable car) that can accommodate a few people at a time. i don't know how much they charge for the cable lift but they charge Php 300 if you ride the zip line. this place is called Camp Sabros, and is owned and operated by four brothers whose name is sablan, hence sabros, for sablan brothers.

good quality service, which is a very important factor to consider in the tourism and hospitality industry, is usually not provided in government-owned facilities because employees get paid just the whether the establishment they are serving is making money or not, so they couldn't care less if their guests are happy and satisfied with the facilities and services or not. so it would be a totally different scenario with a businesss establishment under private sector management.  mostly, facilities and services are upgraded to that guests are happy and satisfied and they came back, or tell other people about the place, and that is good for business to make it profitable and worthwhile doing... if i had the money, i'd buy the resort, improve it by making sure there is food and water available and promote the place as it should to lure more guests. but most importantly, i'd make sure that the place is clean and the coral reef protected being the main attractions of the area. without the coral reef and clean white beach, there is nothing to go to balicasag for... seriously, i would be surprised if no one among the big business families in bohol would buy the facility.

it is probably a good idea to sell the balicasag resort facilities owned by PTA. in my experience, most PTA-owned facilities that i have visited such as the banaue hotel and youth hostel, the PTA facility in alaminos, pangasinan and mt. data lodge in mountain province are not very well maintained and they have quite expensive rates. being so, you don't get your money's worth. if these PTA-owned facilities are sold, these may be better maintained.

boholanos must NEVER allow its water resources to be sold to cebu or any other province for that matter. it is needed for bohol's own development. if we plant more trees now and improve bohol's water resources, it can spell the competitive edge that bohol needs to boost its economy and its people. any boholano leader who leads opposite this direction should be fed to the lions (or crocodile=bakunawa).

i've been to digos a few times and it strikes me as a dusty city. it is okay to roam the streets after a rain. but summertime can be the worst time to be there.

we can expect seeing a future scenario of people fighting over water when majority of people will feel really thirsty... let the cebuanos solve their water problem. they can plant trees or they can cut them all down so they can supply their lumber requirements for the constructions that never seem to stop. in the meantime, bohol should plant MORE trees now so that it is insured of constant water supply in the long term. when everyone else is thirsty because they have not planted trees or because they have cut down all their trees, these people will come to bohol and reside there. when this happens, bohol will certainly experience an economic boom. water is life and our need for it cannot be postponed. people will come to where the water is.

this on-and-off issue of potable water from bohol to be funneled to cebu is indicative of truth in the findings of many studies conducted a few years ago by several development organizations including UNDP and JICA that in the next 2 decades or so, water will become THE most expensive resource. given this particular scenario, i think it will do good for the province of bohol to not only maintain its water resources but to improve it even more. this can be achieved by undertaking a comprehensive reforestation program. this refo program should be focused in the right places -- meaning trees must be planted in the watersheds to ensure that water run-off is controlled and soil erosion (which eventually settle in riverbeds and coastal areas as silt) minimized, if not altogether prevented. if there is water it can become the backbone of 3 major resource requirement for any community that hopes to grow economically and financially: (1) potable water source; (2) irrigation water source to support agricultural production; (3) renewable energy source that can bring down power cost... and it all starts with planting trees.

grazie: tricycle drivers in tagbilaran are really a different breed and i agree with you that these people are spoiled. i have been to many towns and small-town cities all thoroughout the philippines and believe me, tricycle drivers in tagbilaran are a different breed and they have a distinctive behavior that cannot be found anywhere else: (1) when there are several people trying to get a ride in their tricycles, they will always accomodate those that come in a duo, and woe to you if you are alone; (2) they ask for more money if your destination is beyond 1 kilometer even if the minimum distance covered by the minimum fare is 4 or 5 kilometers; (3) when they don't want to give you a ride, they just pass you by and won't even look in your direction, acting as if they didn't see or hear anything from you; (4) they don't observe traffic rules and road courtesy that often results in heavy traffic; (5) Etc., etc., etc... but do you know why these critters are spoiled (and lately have grown to be more arrogant)? it is because our city government allows them to!!! Yes, it is the city government which is responsible for getting its tricycle drivers spoiled! it is the city government which issues certificates of conveyance to legalize their operations and yet it is not doing its regulatory functions. on top of that, tagbilaran city has approved different rates for different destinations at certain times of the day! can you believe that? in all other places in the philippines, tricycle rates are UNIFORM within specified minimum distances regardless of destination or time. tagbilaran is probably the ONLY city in the philippines that have a so-called minimum rate and then specifies another rate going to and from the pier whose rate differ according to the time of day. obviously, this is a special treatment given by city hall to drivers that is designed to gain their- and their families' votes.

the only way to deal with the sale of illegal drugs such as marijuana and shabu is to make it legal. come to think of it, this concept is not really new nor outrageous... it may be recalled that alcohol during the 1920s and 1930s was an illegal commodity in the U.S.. in fact this was one of the businesses of mafia gangster al capone-- the manufacture and sale of alcohol. later, government decided to make it legal and since then alcohol distillery has become a very profitable business, alongside tobacco manufacture and use, that has reaped revenues for the government. so, if government legalizes drugs it stands to earn more revenues... and the issue that drugs is a menace to society because its use make people commit crimes? think of it in this way: alcohol is legal and yet many crimes have been committed by people under the influence of alcohol. we see the news at abs-cbn or gma news everyday of people getting shot or stabbed by people under the influence of alcohol. everyday we see scenes of people being extricated from car crash scenes or motorcycle-riding people laying dead on the roadside due to accidents caused by alcohol. children getting raped by their own kin have become so commonplace that news like this is treated with nonchalant yawn. all this tragedy because of a substance called alcohol that can be legally bought from any sari-sari store. so why not legalize drug use in the same way that government legalized alcohol consumption? after all, alcohol and drugs have the same effect on people. if government is really serious about protecting citizens from harmful substances that cause tragedies from happening, then it should altogether ban the manufacture and consumption of BOTH drugs and alcohol.

it is about time that someone made a decision on the controversy regarding the release of collected water from the city's drainage system into the sea by making it clear that illegal connections that release household effluents into the system be disconnected first before releasing the water from the drainage system into the sea. i have always wondered why the city government took very long to do this very obvious course of action that any law-implementing environment official would take. perhaps those who made illegal connections to throw their effluents into the drainage system are untouchables?

just wondering if doing the international coastal cleanup day every third saturday (or is it sunday but who cares?) of september every year for the last several years has actually caused the decrease of flotsam and other kinds of refuse that are floating in coastal waters year in and year out.  just asking.

buwad, one thing that goes for foreign funded projects is the fact that funds are disbursed directly by the donor agency's contracted consultants, not through any government agency. if this happens especially with infrastructure projects that usually involves the participation of DPWH people, a lot of money goes the wrong way. but because donor countries/agencies of funds (especially grants that the philippine government does not have to pay back) are aware of how graft ridden most government agencies and how corrupt most public officials are, they make sure that their money never touch filipino hands. however, the thing that goes against foreign funded projects is that the projects they they implement may not necessarily be priority projects that many people would benefit from. but like you say, it's all business and i agree with you on that score. indeed foreign funds that come into the country are only made to look like it is assistance to help in developing the country but in fact are designed to advance their prospective agenda which for the most part is for their own benefit, not ours. i guess this gives us the right not to feel indebted to these foreign "donors" for their benevolence.

there is nothing much difference in behaviour between an average american girl and an urban-bred filipina. i think this is because modern filipinas of today are up to par with their amerian counterparts when it comes to whatever new thing there is to know as a result of unversal communication tools such as the mobile phone and the internet. it may interest some people to know that some young rural filipinas may even be more sexually liberal than some americans... i've had only a few girlfriends before (by choice) and these included a japanese, an indian and a couple of americans (one at a time) but believe it or not, the best intimate experience i've had with any of them was with a filipina. mabuhay and pinoy!!! (no, i correct myself: mabuhay and bol-anon!!!!!)

mike, thanks for the website source of the funny pics you posted. i really did not notice the website addy printed on the corners of the pics when i initially saw them until i saw several pics from the same source in other threads here... by the way, the photo author/publisher turned out to be someone i know from before and she is a woman. jojie used to host a segment in a weekend TV magazine show that is produced by and aired over ABS-CBN-Davao.

actually, the U.S. government provides "financial aid" to poor countries like the philippines supposedly to help out in implementing various kinds of projects to bring about economic development. but the truth of the matter is that the U.S. has a hidden agenda in giving aid money. i don't think that the americans really care where if part of this money goes to the officials to whom the money is entrusted for as long as they get what they want. everywhere where the americans go and help, they do it because they get something in return. as an example, when saddam invaded and tried to annex kuwait as one of its provinces, it was the americans who came to the scene first and played international police trying to protect a small country from the big bully. but the truth of the matter is that the americans went to the rescue to protect its oil interests in the country. but when the chinese invaded and annexed tibet as one of its provinces, did any single shadow of an american came to the rescue? no, they kept silent and acted as if nothing ever happened. if and when americans become involved even as givers, rest assured that they are doing it to get something back...

biofuels is bad news!!! production of biofuels will put food supply in jeopardy. if britain does not have any food shortages, let them produce all the biofuels that they want. but in our reality in the philippines, we have a rice shortage problem and we need all the land that we can get to plant to this staple. both biofuels and food need the same land resource so the bottom line question would be this: which would we rather have? additives for gasoline or food to eat? there are other alternative fuels such as hydrogen which is much better and much, much cheaper than biofuels so it makes me wonder why there is not one among our lawmakers and technocrats that are looking in that direction.

after the implementation of the local government code (RA 7160), the next logical step in local autonomy is towards federalism. this way, power is decentralized and self-governance is taken to a higher level and given meaning to the fullest.

the solution to shortages in rice supply that seem to occur every few years can be accomplished by: (1) planting more areas to rice. obviously the philippines consumes more rice than it produces so there is always a deficit. areas planted to rice must be increased; (2) installation of infrastructures that will support rice production: dams and irrigation systems, ware houses, FMRs (farm-to-market roads), etc.; (3) provision of lending windows in financial institutions for agricultural production; (4) distribution (wholesale) of all grains (rice and corn) should be made only by one agency: NFA. this way, no private grain dealers can create monopolies or cartels and cause artificial rice shortages that will result in unreasonable rising of prices like what is happening now... for a long time, farmers who break their backs working in the fields have remained dirt poor while rice traders who stay under the cool of their airconditioned houses are getting richer every harvest time. it is high time that credit be given to where it is due. it is the farmers that do most work involved in rice production. it is they who should be earning more out of rice production. this can be achieved by ELIMINATING the middlemen (rice traders cum monopoly) and allowing only the NFA to buy the rice directly from farmers and sell the commodity to retailers. if this is achieved, farmers will be earning more because the money that will otherwise go to the middlemen will now go to them. also, if and when a rice shortage occurs, only one agency -- NFA, will be accountable and there will be no more finger pointing. so, DOWN WITH RICE TRADERS!!!

if the money is grant as it says it is, there is a big likelihood that a large part of this amount will end up in the private accounts of public officials who will receive this money. and granting that this does happen, what else is new???

this item on 16 new police cars can only become good news if and when the crime rate in bohol goes down.

"Maximizing the giant reservoir to solve the water supply problem was the campaign vow of the Alvin Uy-Marilyn Uy tandem in the May 2007 elections."

maximizing a reservoir to any size can NEVER solve problems in water supply... there are only 3 ways to genuinely solve the problem of water supply: (1) plant trees; (2) plant trees, (3) plant trees (trees must be planted in watershed areas so that something will impede the flow of water when it rains and prevent the occurence of flash floods which is a result of free-flowing rain water that has no impediment such as trees)... continued extraction of water for consumption only HASTENs depletion of water supply, unless more trees are planted in watersheds. if planting is not done and cutting of trees remain unabated, there will be no more potable to drink in the next 30 years, or even less.

may i know where i may get in touch with jojie alcantara? i'm particularly interested with these photos. just what i'm looking for. thanks.

let's see if adding the number of policemen in the province will cause the reduction of crimes committed.

actually, the misspelled name of any popular brand that is being printed on an obviously fake item is a deliberate move and really done on purpose. this is to prevent them (manufacturers of the fake item) from lawsuit and possible conviction for violating patent laws especially if these brand names are registered trademarks... if you want to see real instances of misspelled words in product packaging or labeling, you should try reading the instruction manuals (in english) of electronic devices that are made in countries like japan and china.

the photo is great material that will certainly add to a collection of weird signs that i'm just starting... if anyone has any similar photo, please post here. thanks.

to macky ferniz: the comment i made in this thread was purely about stray dogs that need to be taken off the streets as they pose danger to people on the road. thus it makes me wonder how in the world you got the idea that i was insinuating that the same thing done to stray dogs be done to beggars and badjaos as well. is that because they are also found on the road? but so are other pedestrians, di ba? no mr. ferniz, i'm not suggesting nor insinuating anything close to what you think, unless you consider beggars and badjaos to be synonymous with stray dogs. but then again that maybe a different story. dogs are dogs; beggars and badjaos are people. and besides, i might be inclined to agree with buwadsanga who think that badjaos are not edible.

if the police has not been able to do anything about these series of hold-ups and othr crimes in bohol, then i think it's about time that civic-conscious citizens like ZecurB be allowed to hunt these people down and shoot them like rabid dogs that they truly are. vigilanteism sounds acceptable but only if it is limited to known and certified bad elements. this is how davao city gets rid of its bad elements.   sure, killing these people doesn't deter them from committing further crimes but i guess the point in vigilanteism should not be deterrence but reduction of criminal elements.

the best way to shatter every atheist's reluctance to accept that there is a God without any single word is to situate these people inside an airplane flying in a pitch dark sky in the middle of nowhere whose only source of light is the series of flashes from the lightning of an otherwise angry sky as the plane violently pitches and rolls right in the eye of the storm.

people may have different perceptions of what accomplishment means so we have different views on who accomplished the most. there are infra projects that can be seen and counted and you judge according to the total number, but then again there are intangible accomplishments that you can't see with your eyes and you judge according to what you don't see... the crux of the matter, however, is that aumentado is on his way out and we need a new governor. preferably we need a leader who, as i mentioned before, has a vision for bohol, and the guts and competence to make it happen. does such a person exist? if he does, what's his name?

while there is an existing law that renders any animal found on the road that is not leashed to its owner as stray animal, and that government has the responsibility to rid the roads of stray animals, it may have its shortcoming if -- and only if-- it is government that is implementing the eradication of stray animals particularly dogs by shooting these animals on sight. at least, these dogs, regardless of who is shooting them off the streets, should be taken off the streets and disposed of properly. but i agree 110% with the idea of getting rid of stray dogs from our roads. this problem has been going on for so many years and no one has done anything about it until now when the news came out that bohol is in the top 5 provinces to have a high incidence of rabies, courtesy of the great work done by the very competent and able personnel of the department of agriculture particularly the office of the provincial veterinarian... in the meantime, aside from the cases of dog bite incidents in various parts of the province, police records will yield a good number of road accidents especially those involving motorcycles that resulted from stray dogs that suddenly cross the roads in the midst of vehicle traffic. a few years ago when i was still in bohol, i used to go out bicycling on a regular basis being a cycling enthusiast and i never failed to carry a stick in preparation for the ever-present dogs that would go after me and my bike each time i took a ride. i believe it is high time that some people start cleaning our streets of these stray dogs which are for the most part mean and menacing to pedestrians and motorists especially at night. i salute all those who are part of this clean up, you are all doing a great job. but dead dogs must also be disposed of properly because rabies resides in the saliva of rabid dogs. if dead dogs are left lying on the road, so is the rabies...

is there anyone in here who knows anyone who can be a good leader for bohol? someone who has the vision appropriate for bohol and who has the guts and competence to do it? if there is anyone at all, we'd like to hear it.

you seem to have imbibed your history correctly, buwadsanga. back then, everyone was skinning everyone else whoever was dead. the ilaga ate the milf and vice versa. i remember hearing stories of soldiers developing the habit of doing mopping operations after an encounter by slicing off ears or peckers of the dead the stringing them together as a collection and worn around the neck as amulet for some, and as trophy for others... really the war in mindanao is quite complicated and may result in a free for all if questionable activities are not monitored closely and dealt with immediately... but i agree 110% that those milf troops responsible for the attack on unarmed civilians in north cotabato and lanao del norte must be brought to justice. they are the ones that triggered this violence to begin with. the civilians (ilaga included) who expressed their desire to arm themselves were simply reacting to the attacks made by the milf on their previouysly peaceful villages especially that the afp is only reactive in nature. meaning, soldiers are deployed only AFTER a village has been raided and innocent civilians shot like free-range chicken by raiding milf insurgents.

i'm just wondering why rene relampagos would run for a seat in congress when he can run again for governor. i'm no rene fan but in my observation, bohol made a lot of advancements in many fields under his watch. among the many people listed under the bohol gubernatoriables somewhere in this site, it is my assessment that no one comes close to what rene has accomplished.

to kiamoy: manero is not anti muslim. he is a cannibal.

actually, there is a growing interest in organic food in many parts of the philippines these days. i believe this is the product of being much informed individuals as a result of easier access to media of communication particularly tv and the internet. many people are becoming health conscious these days and this includes the kind of food that they eat, among others. in many agricultural areas, farmers are now growing rice and vegatables using NFST (natural farming system technology). these agricultural produce are 100% chemical-free and therefore contains no toxic substances that very often turn out to be carcinogenic. in davao city for example, consumers can pick up organically grown brown upland rice and pork from groceries particularly NCCC. coincidentally, one of the siblings that own this store is a proponent of NFST and in fact is one of the leading local authorities on nature farming particularly the korean (original nature farming) method. he owns a sizable hog farm that models the korean nature farming method where there is very little use of water and yet the farm does not smell like a regular hog farm at all. if there are any readers in here who might be interested with more information on nature farming, or would like to know how to get in touch with any nature farming resource training providers (individual or institutional), please don't hesitate to let me know. i'd be more than happy to help and provide whatever linkages are needed. information provided will be free of charge. i just want to help nature farming get a start in bohol if boholano farmers haven't already used NFST in crop and hog production. there are two basic benefits that can be derived from nature farming: (1) you get chemical-free food, (2) production cost is much lower than conventional method... you may direct queries to: bolingitboy@tubagbohol.com, bolingitboy@yahoo.com, 09104322137.

you may use: bolingitboy@tubagbohol.com   
thanks a lot.

grazie: don't mention it.... yep, eileen cervantes is married to ben udtohan's son abet.

grazie: i'm happy that you agree with my idea. are there any others?
bol-anon nga cebuano: you can say that again... everyone in the list provided seem to be all trapos. but since we can't arbitrarily label them as such without a reasonable basis, i have suggested in my post on page 19 of this thread that we in here contribute in coming up with a set of criteria or standard in choosing a good leader. then we can use this criteria in evaluating each one of these so called bohol gubernatoriables and determine who, if there is any, is most deserving of our support.

to ms da binsi: sure, i will... so ginger can't access TB now? actually, i find it hard sometimes to access TB. even today, i had to wait a bit before i could successfully get connected. is this a technical glitch?

i wonder if there was anything that this supposed vigilante group ever accomplished. while existence of such groups cannot be legal in any terms, they do serve its purpose if done within reasonable bounds. nonetheless, this problems must be dealt with by authorities immediately before it becomes worse. the manner with which they deal with it may not be as important as the results that must be seen at the end of the day. criminality is like an untreated wound. you leave it alone and it spreads pretty quickly. thus, it must be treated with priority.

bohol most certainly needs an airport that has a runway that can accomodate aircraft larger than boeing 737s, but NOT necessarily an international airport. an international airport is much bigger and thus requires a bigger allotment for MOOE. if they cannot generate this annual fund requirement from internally-generated income thru airport operations, then it becomes a losing enterprise to begin with... even if there were 3 daily incoming flights coming directly to bohol from foreign destinations which in my estimate is wayyyy too many, i don't believe that the income generated by this traffic volume is sufficient enough to operate and maintain airport operations by international standards... at this point in time, it is my firm belief that the international airport dream is a losing proposition. its proponents should wake up from such lofty dreams and be practical about it by settling for an airport that is simply a bigger version of the present tagbilaran city airport.

fulton cervantes is a younger brother of eileen cervantes who married into the udtohan family that owns and runs the funeraria gomez in tagbilaran. if there's anyone in tagbilaran who can go see eileen, you might be able to get fulton's phone number and email addy.

to Macky: i didn't know that there is a trend of rising criminality in bohol. while it might be helpful to effectively diagnose the problem by conducting researches and studies, it might also be beneficial to look at particular models by which municipal executives can deal with such a problem. what comes to mind right now is the experience with which davao city and singapore have minimized criminality. but there might be other models to learn from though.

hoping that this email addy can still be accommodated: bolingitboy. thanx much.

the purpose of coming up with a list of criteria of a good leader is to be able to determine who among the gubernatoriables can make it to the list. this will become the short list. when this is done, we can ask these short listed leaders what their vision of bohol is in the next decade or so. from there, the list can be trimmed down further. what do you guys think?

in doing the task of choosing a leader, i believe it is of great importance to lay down the standards or criteria by which potential leaders are chosen. we need to know what kind of leaders we want so that we can decide who possesses these qualities that we look for in a leader and come election time put these officials into office through our votes.  for starters, i believe we need someone who has political will to implement the law (walang kaibigan, walang kamaganak... in the real sense of the word). we need someone who can be tough with undisciplined, disobedient and abusive citizens -- tagbilaran city tricycle drivers included -- and someone who has a heart that is benevolent enough to find ways to alleviate poverty so that the number of people who are unable to even satisfy the basic need of eating properly everyday is, at the very least, minimized. but first and foremost, we need a leader that can spur the economic development of bohol in the next decade or so. we need a leader who has a vision, a leader who has the will, strength, and gumption to move towards this vision... i am sure there are lots of people in here who also have their opinions on standards or criteria to use in choosing a leader. may i suggest then that someone in here put them all together if enough contributions come in, and perhaps at even one year before election schedule, tubagbohol as a group can make a project of disseminating information to the voting population of bohol on how to choose leaders and what qualities to look for in a leader. i would like to pose this challenge of a project to tubagbohol members as a way of doing something concrete to help improve the leadership of bohol. it is nice to talk, but it is much better -- and perhaps even more fulfilling -- to act. thanks for reading.

if it seems to local businessmen that tourism-oriented establishments are the bread and butter these days, then i guess stakeholders in this industry should make it a point to practice sustainable tourism especially when there seems to be no master plan for tourism development. if this continues to be a trend, everything will just be become a chaotic mixture of structures here and there that will take away all natural aesthetics that has lured the tourists in the first place.

I just wanted to make a comment on the difference between Philippine festivals (Sandugo included) that highlight street dancing and Mardi Gras (whether in New Orleans or Rio de Janiero).  Mardi Gras is a festival that is celebrated every Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent. Mardi is Tuesday in French. Being so, people party all day and all night long. They shout, they laugh, they dance, they drink, they flirt, women romp the streets in thongs and allow their papayas to swing and sway to the beat and rhythm of the music. They let it all hang out because they know that it's going to be their last for quite some time after which they will have to practice abstinence. In effect Mardi Gras which is always characterized by frenzy and wild abandon might be viewed as the collective behaviour of a people who know that the following day they are expected to behave and live a pious life as dictated by religion, and so they go wild and indulge in all worldly pleasures as they can before that day comes. Without meaning to, the thought of a death convict eating his last meal comes to mind. On the other hand most Philippine festivals are anchored on religious celebrations, mostly feast days of patron saints, which explains why almost every street dancing festival in the Philippines feature religious icons that dancers carry and wave around. Probably one of the most popular are the Sinulog of Cebu and Ati-Atihan of Kalibo which both honor the feast day of the Sto. Nino. They do have a distinct dance that devotees perform in church but it has been commercialized by the Philippine Department of Tourism by way of street dancing (which is a main feature of Mardi Gras). This, in fact, gave birth to the celebration of various similar celebrations in different parts of the country (Sandugo included) because the tourism department wanted a street dancing festival to take place every month for the whole year to constantly attract tourists. So, that is how Philippine street dancing festivals got started. They are based on religious celebrations and so people wave religious icons. In Mardi Gras, on the other hand, because it is a kind of "Last-Supper" party, people wave their bananas and papayas.