Lucban: Holy Week Destination of the Philippines

Via Dolorosa Grotto, also known as Kamay ni Jesus is a religious shrine and grotto is located in Barangay Tinamnan, Lucban, Quezon approximately 118 kilometers and 3.5 hours drive south of Manila.

read more | digg story

Pacquiao Rules Again!

Our Pambansang Kamao- Manny Pacquiao again shows to the world that Filipinos are great fighters. The confrontation of Juan Manuel Marquez and Pacquiao is a battle against the real WBC super featherweight champion of the world and took the organizer four years for the rematch. And after 12 deadly rounds on the ring, the Philippine flag swayed again in the Famous Mandalay Bay Hotel to confirm that Manny had stole the title and become the champion.

Manny has really gone a long way, this young brash Filipino boxer whom has risen to almost folk hero status among his kababayans had proven his Mexican destroyer brand to the world.At the moment he is the first Asian Boxer to hold World Titles in three different weight divisions.

It was a real close fight and Manny had a best match over Marquez and for sure every Pinoy's watch this momentous bout. I was just disappointed for not seeing his famous knock out finale for his opponent and the excitement of his deadly move.

Anyway, I am proud of him and for not failing the Filipino people and continuing to prove that Filipinos has something to show in the world sports arena.

Pacquiao-Marquez in 2004



Related links:

* What people want Manny to endorse
* Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao Rules
* Last Mexican Standing For Pacquiao Is Marquez
* Manny Pacquiao.net

Honoring our Media Practitioners

PinoyExplorer honors the men and women of our mass media as they work tirelessly to deliver information to the public via broadcast and print. These people was considered as unsung heroes that are seldom being recognized but instead being lambasted for exposing the truth and sometimes are being victimized by media killings.

more stories

Piolo Believing: Ten years of a successful career

One of the country's most sought after actors and commercial endorsers, Piolo Pascual truly pave way to success. He had proven his mettle in acting with dozens of awards, blockbuster movies, record breaking albums and multitudes of endorsements.

It was during the latter days of October this year when David Fabros, approached us for a book project. An ABS-CBN resident photographer for years, David had documented and collected Piolo's memorabilia in a span of his showbiz career. Much to our surprise, he planned right away to launch the book by Nov. 30, 2007 for the 10th year anniversary concert of Mr. Piolo Pascual. We only had less than a month to go and I told them that it is a "mission impossible". Materials were not yet ready and aside from that David had to go abroad for a business commitment.

"Wow, this is really a project suicide" I said.

David comforted us when he decided that a concept was already established. He wanted a pictorial biography book for Piolo. Meaning, 80 percent would be images and 20 percent text. Well, I think this could be done if he could give us the materials ASAP, done with his printing budget and contact his Art Director for an initial book design and page lay-out that should be submitted first so we can estimate the intensity of the production work.

So after a week, boxes of images came up brought by David. He said it was from Piolo's collection and some of his shots on him. These images were already arranged as chapter plan and we only think about the Chapter divider text, captions and the Front/Back matters.

We had a meeting with his commissioned Art Director, but declined the project because of some other concerns. What I planned for the project was to outsource the concept design and lay-out so we could only look at the printing schedules. I was so busy then with my online projects and I don't have that time to engage another intensifying and deadline beating schedules.

But since we have committed as the publisher of the book, we have to make ways and make both ends meets. Editorial meeting was called up, plan the project and look for possible team to work for the project. Unluckily again, the in-house creatives can't also accommodate the project because of other deadlines. Then, a schedule from the press came. We need to come up with 3 signatures per day starting Nov. 12 but we have not yet started any single page lay-out. The date is November 10.

With the persistence of David and the commitment to make, I finally gave in and accept the Art
Directorial job for the project. I have to contact two more lay-out artists to help me and a team of photo editors for a major manipulation of the images. These images are composed mainly of images from Piolo's personal collection and need enhancements to come up with good quality prints.

It's a no turning back point for my team. The editorial team finalizes the captions provided by Piolo himself and of David. We have to work and collaborate online since David will be out of the country for a business trip. So, burden lies ahead of us.

To make this story short, I finally forwarded my cover design to David for his perusal and gladly accepted some minimal adjustments made. Actually, his taste for the book was a mix of a-la magazine and a coffee table book but was rejected by the publisher. So, we have to come up with the design discipline of a coffee table book.

After several sleepless nights and online soft proof approval of Dave, finally files are off for prepress by Nov.22 and initial press running is on schedule. Cover is with special spot UV lamination of Piolo's signature in blue. The cover is protected with matte and give a natural flat color.

Finally, on the concert day itself, the first 300 copies of the book was released from the warehouse and brought to Piolo for his autograph. We'd like to give the public something that they would treasure even it is on its introductory price.

Whew, that was just more than 2 weeks of hardwork and I'm thankful that again we have successfully beat another history in book publishing. More than 500 pix... 184 pages... in one pictobiography book...


Piolo:Believing.... and now, a book is born...


About: Piolo:Believing is a photo biography book of Piolo's 10 years in showbiz career. Published by Vibal Foundation as a fundraising project for WikiPilipinas: the free Pinoy encyclopedia.

Destination: Eagle's Point

Pinoy Explorer is on the go again. Recently, I was able to visit the fabulous resort of Eagle Point in Batangas. Local residents in this area called the place "Bagalangit" which means "Almost Heaven". It has something that they can be proud of, clean sea air, pristine waters, perfect for scuba divers and fantastic sunset view by the bay.

The place is located on the tip of the Calumpang Peninsula and just two and a half hours drive from Manila but actually we had reached the place form Manila almost 5 hours. That includes a stop-over in Lipa, Batangas . This privately-owned haven is one of the biggest and best resorts so far in Anilao-Mabini area.

Read more...

Pinay Heroes on Everest

Philippine Flag has been raised again at the top of Mt. Everest for the second time. The first is when three Filipino mountainers (Leo Oracion, Pastour Emata and Romi Garduce) successfully reached the summit last year during the 1st Philippine Mt. Everest Expediton and now, three Filipinas made their historic feat as the first ASEAN women to reach the highest mountain on Earth.

read more stories

Pahiyas: Feast of San Isidro Labrador

May is a month of fiesta in the Philippines and mostly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Countless Flores de Mayo are being held in various barrios throughout the country where flowers are being offered by children and Santacruzan are for young ladies who vie for the Reyna Elena status.

But the month of May is also about celebrating the feast of their patron saints. To all of us, May 15 is just an ordinary summer fiesta but to many religious believers, its more than a celebration for it comemmorates the feast of San Isidro Labrador, the saint of the farmers.

Today, He is considered as the number one choice as Patron Saint of Churches in the Philippines not because of any religious congregation established in his honor but he was chosen based on the number of terms the churches honoring him as patron saint.

read more...