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.

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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.

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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.

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My Wife's Day

I was at home reading a Sunday paper and I throw a glance at my wife with my2 year old kid watching the photos during our last year's vacation in baguio. My son was so happy enumerating names of those what he sees on the photo slides on the computer monitor. He giggles and he was very smart calling his mother's attention to turn the photos in portrait mode. He already able to identify what is correct in his vision.

As i watch them, there's a spot in my heart that says, "You must be fortunate to have a family like that." I can also tell that that my son was contented, enjoying his life as a kid and was raised with the loving hands of his parents. Two years had passed and I can't really imagine that my son is growing fast and smart. He can already recite his ABCs and other nursery rhymes that his mom had taught every night. He can already mimic some TV commercials and dance some of its tunes.

I seldom recognized my wife's effort for all these years and I want to commend her for being so patient with me and being understanding. Aside from that, I want to be thankful for her nurturing love to our beloved son, for her caring and affection, guidance and for teaching him to be smart.

I turned the pages and I see a half-page ad. Its Mother's Day and I almost forgot. The election fever is making its headlines and I almost missed the importance of this day. I have kissed my wife and whisper ...."That's a kiss for being the best mom for Chad" Let us all greet all mother's with a KISS! Happy Mother's Day!

Photos Led to Boracay's Discovery

We are surprised by its awesome beauty. We enjoyed the powder-like white sands and breathtaking sunset. But do you have any idea how this beautiful island called Boracay was discovered?

It was my second time in Boracay and I was not here for any ordinary outing experience. I was here in search of Boracay's history, art and culture. But the truth of the matter is, this island does not have much of a history and it's quite challenging to find out its past.

I began my work early morning strolling down the 4- kilometer stretch of the beach shore, even if I was a bit tired from the party the night before with my officemates. I went to the southern part and found myself in the unexplored haven of Brgy. Manoc-manoc. Though the place has a few sprouts of establishments already, it is not overcrowded. The sand is also refined but not as first-class white that you can found in Stations I and II. The harbor is quite a scenery and
fresh air can be felt for it has a bountiful of forest reserves which are still unspoiled.

I had the privilege to talk with a certain Manong Ruben while he was busy unrooting wild grasses around his mango tree. He told me that there's a lot of stories about Boracay but he only gave me a few. He said that there were early settlers who inhabited the island and fishing was their primary source of income.

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Uncovering the Beauty of Miag-ao

I really don't know much about Miag-ao but I often heard it from my colleagues about its historical importance. So, when the opportunity came, I took the time to make the most out of the place.

I have been to Iloilo City when I was in college but I had never been to Miag-ao. I just came here now to visit our branch office. I added as part of my itinerary the Spanish-old church of Miag-ao. Though some of my officemates decided to cancel our Miag-ao trip because of the intense heat this summer, I pushed with my plan and went along with my 6 other officemates.

We travelled about 40 kms south-west of Iloilo City by a hired jeepney and we reached this famous religious gem of the south about 45 minutes. The Santo Tomas de Villanueva church which was listed in the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the oldest baroque churches in the country built more than 200 years ago.

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When banks stole your money

Have you experienced being stolen by your bank?

Well, it's about time to be wary and vigilant as you put your card in any convenient ATM machines because you never know, one day, you might also experience what I had been through.

Last December, it has become a tradition for me and my wife to go to Divisoria in preparation for the Christmas season. We go there without cash in hand as long we had our precious ATM card with us. We just scout for any available ATM machine inside or outside the mall. This time, we chose Equitable Bank because it is an affiliate of the BPI and the only available bank that's not been offlined yet. We waited patiently even if there was a long line of people waiting for their turns. To our dismay, no money was dispensed from the machine. And an error said that the "machine was unavailable."

I have a suspicion that the machine went offline. So I went to another bank to verify my account while I let my wife stayed in front of the ATM machine for the hope of having the machine dispensed the money I've withdrawn. When I verified, I proved that I was right. I was debited with PhP2,000 pesos.

I approached a bank personnel of Equitable bank and reported the matter. He advised us to report what happened to BPI through its hotline number, 89-100. So we called up BPI and they gave us a sort of a reference number that will be recorded by them so we will be able to follow up our complaint. We called them after a week but the phone attendant told us that nothing had been debited from my account and instead file our complaint directly to Equitable bank in Divisoria branch where we used the ATM machine.

I was a bit mad for that conversation because for me, it is their responsibility to follow-up the incident with their partner bank and verify the matter for further investigation. In the first place, we reported the matter to them immediately so that they can make possible actions on it. The solution should be in their hands already but unfortunately, nothing has happened yet.

After almost 5 months, we are still following up the matter through 89-100 and they only gave us the same feedback over and over again that the company is still verifying the incident. It's been months and my wife got her blood pressure on a scale talking with these operators who kept on repeating the same lines. They couldn't even give other suggestions on how they could speed up the process. They just reassuring us of nothing.

ATM or Automated Teller Machine was invented to facilitate the public with easy banking service. But with this type of scenario where debited account was no longer in the vocabulary of these banks was really a violation of public trust and consumer's rights. And it's a bit alarming. What If you withdraw a big amount of money, will it make a difference?

These and many more questions hounded me. This only reflects of how some companies do their businesses. They never took care of its loyal customers, they are only after the money that you can give and the quality of service is at stake. It's only a small amount of money but we felt that we've been stolen.

So Beware...you might be their next victim.

Related Links

* ATTN: BPI ATM acct holders (FYI)
* ATM Machine Monster!!!

technorati tags:divisoria, bank, stolen, money, atm, machine, debited

Camarines Sur: Home for Xtreme Sports in Asia

I have been to Bicol region just recently and the talk-of-the town there was about the new sport complex that is still being developed by the provincial government. It is a world-class facility that will house extreme sports such as dirt biking, skateboarding and the now popular cabled-waterskiing.

The Cam Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) was the first world-class facility in Asia located inside the Provincial Capitol Complex or commonly known as "Kapitolyo." The concept was patterned in Florida, USA who led the popularity of extreme watersports all over the world.

"Kapitolyo" is also the place of the regional government office. It has facilities for all sorts of public recreation. I remembered during my high school days when we regularly visited this place for our outing. I also brought my wife here before we get married three years ago.

This 6-hectares of reclaimed land has 6-point cable ski system that has become a favorite destination spot of sport enthusiasts all over Europe, Australia and the United States. It has a 700 meter long manmade lake constructed for wakeboarding or surfing. Aside from sports, the lake invites visitors to have a swim or bath under the sun.

Cable skiing as the name suggest, is a sport wherein a skier is being pulled by an overhead cable suspended 8 to 12 meters above water surface by specifically designed pylons. It is the same with the water ski being pulled by a motorboat. The cable travels continuously and run counter clockwise with an estimated speed of 20 to 65 kph.

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technorati tags:wakeboarders, camarines, watersports

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Pieces of Hope in Albay

Cagsawa Ruins, the famous landmark of Bicol region are still intact and are spared from the ravaging flash floods brought by typhoon Reming last year. It resulted to more than a thousand deaths from various municipalities surrounding the Mt. Mayon in Albay province.

It is contrary to the reports made by foreign and local media who covered the fiasco and said that it was washed away and half buried by pyroclastic materials from Mt. Mayon. Local residents said that mediamen were not able to reach the Cagsawa ruins because roads leading to it were impassable and full of boulders and sand that reaches up to 20 ft. high.

November 30, 2006, four months after the strong typhoon, I visited this place again and witnessed the real condition of the people and the landmark. The roads that led to it were already cleared but you can see the 20 feet wall of sands in both sides. Some houses were abandoned and was half-buried in the mud.

I saw construction-owned trucks passing back and forth loading boulders and sands from the former Busay river. It was devastated and now cleared with pyroclastic deposits, sands and boulders. Some folks are still trying to catch fish in this almost dried-up river.

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Related links:
• Albay: One month after super typhoon Reming
• Rummaging through the ruins of typhoon Reming
• Family struggles to survive in Padang lahar site

Related News:
• Bicol region faces dark Christmas
• Slow Recovery for Albay Residents

A Time to Reflect

In the Philippines, the Holy Week culminates the solemn observance of Christians faith. Countless "Cenaculos" and "Pabasas" reciting and re-enacting the passion and death of Jesus Christ will again be traditionally observed. This rituals became one of the tourist attractions during the Lenten Season.

Last Sunday, April 1 marks the Palm Sunday. It signifies and highlights the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. In Sto. Domingo church alone where I usually attends mass was full of vendors with their palm branches reaching people who will attend the mass.

Truly the world is turning so fast and here comes another year for us to reflect on what we have done so far. We, at the big city sometimes forgot about these festivities and usually go the beaches and relax. Yes, I have also been there few years back and I have experienced how the crowd enjoys the Boracay and Puerto Gallera's party even if its Good Friday. Commercialism has crept us the observance of Holy Week which may have been helped along by the lack of understanding of the Paschal mystery and our faith.

Are we still the Christians that our forefathers expect on us? Do we still live by our christian faith? Well, you have the answer.

I still don't have any religious plans this holy week because I will be going home to my hometown in Bicol to visit the destruction of our province brought by the recent typhoons and at the same time to be with my ailing father.

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Make Your Officemates start Blogging

It's so funny. I have a short chat with some of my coleagues in the office about blogging. Their perceptions is that blogging is just a personal diaries of a teeny booper who are a friendster addict and are hunger for a real romance.. ha-ha-ha...do you think it's funny.

Then I told them that I'm a blogger and at Friendster, too. Then, they start to ask why?. I told them that there's a social network revolution out there that they need to see and find out if their perceptions were correct. They never knew that some personal opinions that I discussed to them on the current events, trends, politics, technology and the like are all based from what I read on blogs. And they were amazed.

When you start blogging, for sure you will gain network of friends while learning things how to earn dollars out of it. Mind you, I see more dollars on their face as they are puzzled and intrigue with the last phrase i have uttered :)

The craze for instant publishing is unstoppable and the battle for supremacy is unimaginable. I told them that blogging is more of words and not just for pictures as you see it on your Friendster accounts. Mine is just a start-up and should catch-up because I'de like to achieve more readership. They asked me how I do it because they are aware that I'm not a writer...and I told them " wala lang sinubukan ko lang."

They want instant hint on how they should go about the process and I give them some pointers that I have researched from probloggers on the net.

The web is about words. No matter how visual and audible it becomes, it continues to be about the words. Some claims that content is king and I think they are right. Blogging is all about writing and It should be king that you should protect.

Here are my top 10 things to think about in creating an army to protect your blog.

• Know your Subject: If you have several topics you want to cover in one blog post, all unrelated, what are you writing about? If you like to do that, make sure you create categories for every post you like. Use Wordpress not Blogger because it has ways to categorize your post.

• Originality Wins: Original content will always win over redundant, blockquoting, and echo chamber content. Even if you can’t write well, the attempt to say it in your words is always appreciated and welcome.

• Make Blog Paragraph Short: Blog writing lends itself to shorter sentences and paragraphs for easier reading on a web page. Web readers want information fast and in small digestible chunks. Huge bulky paragraphs make reading online very difficult, however single sentence paragraphs can make the reader uncomfortable.

• Make your Blog Talks: It’s important to write in a conversational style because your readers will relate to you, the person behind the blog. Your writing should give the illusion you are speaking directly to the reader. Match the writing style with the content.

• Move Your Reader Through the Story: A blog post or article has something to say. It begins, has a middle, and ends. Move the reader through the content, as well as into it. Make them want to scroll down for more.

• Present Facts: Everyone has an opinion. What makes your opinion different from other opinions is that yours is based upon the facts. Wild accusations, suggestions, and analogies do not build trust and respect.
  

• Make Your Point in the First 200 Words: You have less than a second to capture your reader’s attention. If the user on your site, feed, or search engine summary doesn’t “get the point” in the first two or three sentences, you’ve lost them

• Make Your Images Speak: Photos that you inserted in your blog should have something to say to compensate your post. Don't put images that are irrelevant to your contents. Readers sometimes are turned-off with this kind of behavior.

• Be a Friend of Google: With the recent public release of the Google Patent for Blog PageRank, you must be aware of your keywords that will work to the algorithm and multiple content matching of the keywords match with your content. This will help your blog increase your page ranking and visibility. More importantly, write with keywords and tags or labels to help your reader know exactly what you are writing

• Learn to Earn Dollars: Google adsence is helping site owners to monetize thru their sites. Take advantage of it and create your account for free. The program combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising - meaning you get paid for valid clicks on the ads on your site or search results pages as well as impressions on your content pages.

I just hope with these basic tips, Blogging would be a regular habit to everyone of us who are bonded in the corner of an office cubicles. It's about time for us to see and know things in a new light.

technorati tags:blogger, officemates, wordpress, tips, monetize

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Long Live Philippine Blog Awards!

Finally, the bests of Filipino Blogs was acknowledge at the 1st Philippine Blog Awards last night at the Podium of RCBC Plaza in Makati City. I was able to attend the awards night with my wife and I was thankful to the organizer for sending me an invite.

I accompanied my wife at the Glorietta to do her regular shopping before we proceeded to the venue earlier at 5:00 pm. She was actually hesitant to go because she was already exhausted but I have been able to convinced her to go since we are already in Makati.

We have meet Mr. Abe Olandres who was one of the early birds. He was known to the bloggers as "Yuga" and one of the pioneers in the blogging scene in the Philippines. Actually his group are the ones who conceptualized this project because they believe that there's a blog community growing in the Philippines.

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Philippines Kicks-off Blog Awards 2007

The heat is on this summer as the final night is being awaited by Filipino Bloggers around the globe as the 1st Philippine Blog Awards culminates this Saturday, March 30, 2007 at the Podium 4, RCBC Theater, RCBC Building in Makati City.

The Philippine Blog Awards aims to recognize notable Filipino-owned blogs in their respective niches — a venue to showcase notable blogs with quality content that engages readers from around the globe.

All Filipino bloggers who have full ownership of their blogs are allowed to join the contest under 11 major categories : Personal, Technology, Travel, Entertainment, Home & Living, Socio Political, News & Media, Business & Entrepreneur, Sports and Recreation, Fashion and Lifestyle, Photo Blog, and Podcast.

All entries to this year's blog award will also vie for special awards such as Best Blog Design, Best OFW Blog, Best Free Custom Theme, and Best Plug-in/Extension. Additional special awards was generously given by one of its major sponsor. They were the Blog Achievement Award, Pinoy Ako Blog Award, Family Blog Award, Blogirl Award and Deliblog Award.

As not to over-crowed the event, the committe decided to post a regulation from their site on how to avail for the entrance tickets. The event is expected to gather more that 500 attendees.

technorati tags:Philippines, Blog, Awards

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Philippines

Flock: The new browser in town

My blog is getting so boring...ya i know...it is because of the nature of my work that i seldom post an updates to my blogs. Yes i have several blogs and I am fond of creating multiple blogs. Maybe it is because I am just an addict propelling Filipiniana.net site to reach the no.1 slot in major search engines and thank God I have made it. Blogging was a great help in my SEO strategies... but now, I still don't know what particular topic or area of concern should I pursue to become a serious blogger. Maybe I'm just a person who just want to separate myself from things that i really wanted to do and planning to do in life..

Well, to tell you the truth I am afraid of writing because I'm never good at it. I am sorrounded by real writers and editors and I'm just being afraid of being scrutinized with my grammar and style of writing.. who cares by the way..this is only a personal stuff...this is my own style.. I'm just speaking my mind and I did it little by little.... "kahit pilit."

For this new entry, I want to share something very interesting specially to those who are busy as me and who's life depends on a web browser. I spent 8-12 hours of my daily life in a browser...ya, because my work calls for it. These browsers helps me navigate things easily because of the features being incorporated such as multiple tabs, integrated bookmarks, Answers.com and Google toolbars and more. But, as I went thru it, my browser got cluttered of so many tabs and it's annoying. I have to open every bookmarks and tabs for sites that I wanted and that happens everyday.

What you see and reading right now, is brought by the new browser I have come across reading to a blog of Bryan Veloso - the man behind the internationally-renowned blog, Avalonstar and a pinoy who is a part of the creative team who works for the social web browser called Flock.

I'm so lucky that it runs into may Intel-powered iMac and have installed it right away, navigate and wham! here I am jotting down notes for my blog with ease as if i am inside my blog page.

Flock enables you to import your log-in parameters to almost any popular blog and networking sites plus a feature to use APIs. This browser just like the Safari, is a RSS reader. You can start subscribing to an RSS news feed in a single click to the RSS icon of your browser and it gives you the headlines via a drop-down menu. Trying to view the RSS feed of your blogs, it gives you an snippet view of the entries neatly arranged like a comment box in two columns.

Well, this is quite amazing for me and a must download for all net addicts out there..

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KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!

2007, according to our Chinese friends is the year of The Fire Pig. And as usual different beliefs proliferate in every conversation, in the mass media and in every Filipino Feng Shui believers, everything has to change to be able to adjust with the Yin and Yang balance required by the Fire Pig year.

For those who don't know if their birthday were covered by the Year of the Pig here's what I've researched that could guide us to what really is with this year and how it will affects our lives.

Year of the Fire Pig ( 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007)
Zodiac: Courageous, gallant, courteous, innocent, gullible, naive, peace loving, defenseless, trustful, honest, correct, pure, sincere, very deveoted, sensitive, indulgent, sensual, cheerful, generous, tolerant, hates quarrels, fortunate and not good in handling money but can be a perfect friend.

So, let's go back to Feng Shui, and have us study how it evolves into a Chinese concept. According to some write up on Feng Shui, they said that in the beginning, the Universe has nothing on it and this "nothing"was divided and have two complementary forces called "Yin and Yang". Yin is characterized as the negative, moon, feminine, dark and passive while Yang is the positive, sun, masculine, light and active. One is better than the other, and yet both are important and a balance of both is highly necessary. Meaning as day follows night and night follows day, they are constantly balanced.

Ancient Chinese astrologers is said to divide and look for the "Balance" of Yin and Yang. When this is achieved, Yin and Yang comes a harmonious environment. They also looked for Ch'i which is the energy existing within the landscape. These concepts are the basis of what is known today as "Feng Shui"

Feng Shui literally means Wind and Water. According to ancient Chinese scientific art in oder to combine the knowledge of environmental theory and magnetism, you must relate to the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The purpose of this is to identify the Yin and Yang that creates Ch'i in its five elements which are the Water, Wood, Earth, Fire and Metal. These elements create the constructive cycle or the destructive cycle. For sure, the constructive cycle is the proper balance that can lead us to living harmoniously, benefiting our health and facilitating
good relationship with people.

Remembering my Mom

I was 23 years old then, fresh after college when my mom dies. She has a cervical cancer and was predicted 8 months of life when she was first diagnosed. It was malignant and as they say only miracle can spare her. At my tender age..I know she gonna die... what can I do... who could help us save her...no one.

We are hopeless, I need to be strong and only prayers can make me stand against the pain I have felt as I see my mother anguished in pain. She undergone many things, from chemotherapy up to the last quack doctors or "albularyo" we could find just to keep her.

During her last months, she requested to be transferred to her hometown in Baao, Camarines Sur—an adjacent municipality next to ours. I don't know why she made that decision. Maybe because she wanted to get a closer place for her visitors who lived in Baao at the same time she likes within the comfort of my aging "lola."

During the time of her confinement here, she become strong and cheerful. We joke around, feed her and tell her stories about my schooling in Manila. My other siblings who was then very young was not that aware of my mothers situation. I am the one who took care of her during her medical treatment in Manila and that was so tiring having to look for blood donors, processing some loans and other help to sustain her.

I know she is tired of all the medical procedures she underwent. All she wanted was to see her children and other close relatives. She was so happy when they visited her and give inspiration on the value of living. They cheer her up for a while but when they gone I feel her lament behind her eyes. And I don't want to see it.

Then comes Valentines day. While I was feeding her for lunch, I told her I got a date in the afternoon and she just smile. I always see those glitters in her eyes every time I told her about girls..you know. Maybe she was excited to see her eldest son growing into a man. "Habang tumatagal kamukha mo na papa mo" she always said whenever she pleases me. I remember her to be the one on stage every time I got an awards in school and during graduations. I also remember her borrowing money from my lolo and lola, co-teachers, other siblings whenever we are financially down. Aside from that, she always reminded us to study hard because according to her "Its only education that they can afford to give us"... typical for a mother whose only dream is to give her child the best they can have.

Yes, very typical that she even exchanged her health just to send us to school. She always postponed her check-up because her children has to pay bills in school. We never knew that it would come up with an illness that we can't imagine.

At 3:00 pm, Valentines day, she perished. It was like heaven and earth and I cant move while she hold me that long as he grasp her last deep breath. Tears flows inside of me and I cant take it.

Now, I'm 33, married with a cute two year old boy. She will never see this boy grown into a man and her other children who have already graduated and starting to live a life on their own. "Mama, you have missed a lot... how I wish, you were alive to see us and see your first "apo" and experience how it feels to be called "lola"

I really missed you mom.........

FABIAN: An Artist worth remembering

In the art circle, the name "Fabian de la Rosa" never rings a bell. It is because nobody pays attention to his works or probably, he has been forgotten for the past centuries and has never been taught or introduced to the younger generation. I also have to accept that I was not knowledgeable about him and his works and never seen one until I was involved in an artbook project of Filipiniana.net and UP Jorge Vargas Museum.

Later did I realized that "Lolo Fabian" was a vital link that bridges two generations of artists. My research on his life allows me to know that De La Rosa was the direct heir to the artistic traditions set forth by homegrown talent Simon Flores, his uncle and first teacher, and by the European-trained Hidalgo and Luna. He was also the first Filipino director of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts (1926-38), and then became the mentor of Fernando and Pablo Amorsolo.

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Christmas in Baguio

At last, a vacation was fulfilled after the hurdles in the office. But still has to work in Baguio for a day's meeting with our librarian/editor and to give the indexing of the book that is already scheduled for the press. The Xmas break is the only time that I should pursue since the coming year is expected to be tight with deadlines and activities.

Anyway, three days and two nights in a cozy old house of my "Ninong Lloyd" is something that I cherished and thankful about. At least, I have saved money for other expenses as we stroll all over this romantic place with my wife, my little prince and my younger siblings.

This is my second long trip with my family for a vacation. We have been to my hometown in Bicol a few months ago and now here, in the summer capital of the Philippines-Baguio City.

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