Remembering the painful lessons of the past

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 is a day I can never forget, for very early on this day I received the following heart-stopping text message “Ma maupod ko sa ambulance kay mapa check up ko kay nabunggo amon tricycle.”

My youngest daughter was on her way to school when the road accident happened and to this day I am just so thankful that my daughter is still alive and doing well.

Korean cars, food, and getting lost in Seoul

SOUTH Korea is Samsung land so if you are looking for a charger for your Apple, then your chances are close to nil. If you ask what the mighty company in South Korea is, the answer spells Samsung. So be sure that you have all your other branded gizmos packed and tucked in your suitcase when you visit South Korea.

When it comes to cars, Korea is the new Japan. Overtaking Toyota, Hyundai and Kia have sold more vehicles to Americans than all European automakers combined through the first seven months of 2011, and they’re growing faster than any other automaker.

Cebu Pacific finally answers prayers of Ilonggo OFWs in HK

FILIPINOS working in Hong Kong have long lamented the delay incurred in waiting for their Iloilo-Manila or vice-versa connecting flight when they go to Hong Kong or when they go home to Iloilo.

“When you arrive in Manila, you have to wait for several hours before you can board your flight to Iloilo. If your flight gets delayed, you’ll have to wait several hours more,” said Sherlyn Saban of Barangay Agboy Norte, Leon, Iloilo as she waited with fellow homeward-bound Filipinos at Gate 20 of the pre-departure area of the Hong Kong International Airport for Cebu Pacific’s inaugural Hong Kong–Iloilo direct flight scheduled to depart 2:20 a.m. last Friday, November 9.

The Final Journey

“ASHES to ashes, dust to dust.” So goes the song by Dennis Lambert that dates back to my grade school days at UNO-R. This is the song on YouTube that fills my ears as I compose this article about making that final journey when the end is finally at hand.

Stat analysis wiz

STATISTICAL analysis. OMG, Mimi, the term’s so highly technical. But it’s not something to be afraid of, right? Well, to expound on it, Wikipedia expounds the term statistical analysis to refer to “a wide range of techniques to describe, explore, understand, prove, and predict based on sample datasets collected from populations, using some sampling strategy.”

Negros Occidental tourism, seriously

TOURISM may evoke fond and fun memories of beach excursions, splashing in a stream in a mountain resort, exhilarating rides, mouth-watering cuisine, magnetic destinations, and the stimulating adventure of discovering a place for the first time. Everything is light and exciting.

It’s all in the sole

THE next time you find yourself in a public place with lots of people, try this -- look at your shoes, then look at the shoes of the person next to you. Then begin judging. How old is the dude with the Converse Chucks? What do you think he does for a living, hmm? Call center agent perhaps? Maybe he’s a student? He’s almost definitely not a doctor.

Take a look at the shoe itself -- what color is it? Is it bright green or blue, or maybe it’s black or white.

The autumn leaves in Nami Island

A FIVE-MINUTE ferry ride brought us to a forest of verdant trees with open grassy areas where ostriches, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, ducks and peacocks warmly welcomed us in the midst of wild flowers.

Lizares: Hello South Korea!

AS I mentioned in my previous article, Pedro Calunsod had a special surprise for me. NAITAS had a familiarization tour to South Korea and since they are rather strict with granting visas and mine was under consideration, I just treated it as whatever is God's will is for me regarding the trip! But on the afternoon of Friday, my friend, Maritess Sotto, called me and said that I was granted one.

So Monday evening, flying Cebu Pacific from Cebu and on to Incheon, I had the unexpected visit to Korea where I had never been. God is indeed kind.

Of shells and fine things

YOU may not have time to catch Carmen Campbell’s lovely handmade creations at The Negros Museum or at the Balay Negrense in Silay City last al Cinco de Noviembre but you can check out the goods on-line starting today.

Malagkit treats

AS THE celebration of All Souls’ Day is coming, the cost of the “malagkit” or glutinous rice is also rising. We know that this trend is just the call of the law of supply and demand. And so we asked, why is “malagkit’ rice associated with the commemoration of the dead?

Warning: Reckless driver behind the wheel

THERE’S an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival 2012 Cinephone Film Making Competition which caught my attention lately as it is related to my previous published article entitled “Warning: Dangerous Curve Ahead” in the Sun.Star Weekend Bacolod Edition dated October 21, 2012.

The cinephone is entitled “License to Drive” and it was made by Miss Bea Ivanica H. Mocorro and her production crew with the use of the handy gadget called the camera phone.

Fish be with you

AN ISRAELI photojournalist whom I met here in Bacolod asked me where he should go, and one of the places that I recommended for human interest photographs is Central Market. As we were sitting at The Suites‘ Café Nueva to go over the city map, I asked him about the Filipinos living in Israel, and he could only say good words about our kababayans there.

Understanding the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement

THE newly proposed creation of a Bangsamoro nation-state within the Mindanao territory was met with enthusiasm by the Muslim inhabitants of the ARMM and the international community. However it has been met with mixed reception by the common tao and has been outright scorned by the MNLF.

Pumpkins and Halloween in Everland

WITH Halloween coming on the 31st, the season for ghosts and paranormal creatures, why do we see the pumpkins as the ubiquitous décor? My research tells me that Jack O’ Lanterns originated from the tradition of carving the faces of lost souls on hollowed out pumpkins and turnips. A candle is placed inside the pumpkins to make the faces glow. The Halloween lanterns were placed on doorsteps to drive away evil spirits.

Pedro Calungsod: Patron saint of the youth

I WAS in Cebu last Friday the 12th and the whole city was celebrating the countdown to the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod. All churches had novenas and the atmosphere was as festive as our MassKara preparations. I tried to join in the bandwagon of the euphoria.

In Plaza Colon, they had this beautiful structural tribute to the Patron of the Youth. It was most impressive. In the Archbishop’s Place, there is a Shrine dedicated to Pedro Calungsod which I also visited to experience further the significance and the sanctity of the coming blessed occasion.

Cine Recoleto

LIGHTS, camera, action, and the trailer of each of the two film entries hugged the white wall of Father Cuenca Hall at UNOR last October 6 in the occasion of the Film Review and Evaluation of the two film entries for the Season 3 Religious Education Film Festival.

Sponsored by the Cine Recoleto Film Production, the “indie” films, co-produced by Religious Education student, which explored the themes of faith and the sacraments, were shown during the festival.

Warning: Dangerous curve ahead

CAN accidents be prevented?

This is the question that I asked myself after my youngest child recently figured in a near-death road accident where she miraculously emerged with just slight physical injuries.

Biking and Biking as Sports Tourism

WHEN one talks of tourism, oftentimes it is resorts and landmarks that come into the mind of one. The new trend now becomes expanded as anything that could be positively and morally attractive becomes part of the tourism attractions and destinations.

Sports Tourism is one direction that is being fascinatingly become attractive.

Lunching in Latin America

MY LATIN American lunch at The Quiet Place last Sunday (October 14) was one of the most relaxing for a long, long time. It must be the fresh country air circulating at mid-day in the spacious open-sided pavilion. It must be the unbeatable view of rows of eucalyptus trees, rice stalks bearing their heavy golden heads of ripe grains in the rice fields, the placid swimming pool mirroring the cloudy sky, and the partly hidden elegant Garden rooms and its tree-lined pathway.

Be angry, it could be good for you

You know that new Cybercrime law everyone is angry about? Are you angry about it too? Well if you’re not then you should be—in fact you can be mad at anything at all. It might just be good for you to release that rage.

Professor Jennifer Lerner of the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University says it’s okay to scream at things or people once in a while, under the right circumstances, of course. You don’t wake up every morning and scream obscenities at your dog that didn’t do anything.

The sacredness of the sacrament of Holy Orders

I HAD the most touching experience when I attended the ordination of two deacons and 2 priests. This was a second time for me. The previous one must have been like 25 years ago, but this was more special because one of the priests, Rev. Fr. Roy Christian D. Gesulgo was our spiritual director in our Praesidium Mary Help of Christians, Legion of Mary.

The first time I heard Fr. Roy speak was at the Sacred Heart Shrine when he was just a deacon. Usually homilies are assigned to deacons to give them a feel for the ministry and prepare them for their future life of preaching. I was awed by this young man with a very deep powerful voice giving such a profound homily. Of course, the thing to ask next is who he is. Susan Ledesma, who sits behind me in our territorial seat in the Church, said that he is Reverend Roy.

Storytelling: A BLISful activity for children

ONE of the good things about the Bacolod City Public Library is that it has a reading program for children as young as 4 to 5 years of age. Thus, once every quarter, a reading activity is held for kiddie-participants from the different day care centers here in Bacolod City.

The Children’s Reading Program has two main objectives, namely to promote love for books and reading among children and to support the development of children’s information services in the city public library.

The Soroptimist of Silay

THE month of October opened with the Soroptimist International of Silay having its 4th Police Moral Upliftment and Operational Enhancement Training Seminar in the City of Talisay. It was a week-long retraining program done in a collaborative partnership between the City of Talisay headed by its Mayor Doc Eric Saratan and the Soroptimist group of Silay and in cooperation with the National Police Commission and the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office, which is headed by Police Senior Superintendent Milko D. Lirazan, OIC, Office of the Provincial Director.

There's a new bus in town

CONGRATULATIONS to Negros Occidental for being voted the Best Tourism-Oriented Province in the Philippines! Surely, the efforts of everyone involved in the tourism industry have paid off. I hope that this award will inspire us to really get our acts together (as in "more seriously") in order to make our province a top tourist destination. This invitation is also extended to the other sectors who directly or indirectly affect tourism anyway e.g., hotels and restaurants, public transportation, energy, banking, agriculture . . . gee whiz, it seems that everyone's involved here.

TUPV ECE’s and ME’s aces

THE first ace comes from these four who hurdled easy, moderate and difficult topics, made correct answers to questions like, “what is the term for a set of four lines, no three of which are concurrent?” or “what frequencies are higher than the sound frequency range?” to “what is the point where a curve intersects itself among four arcs ?” or “what are the particles that include proton and neutron?” and “what is the property of matter that provides a quantitative measure of its resistance to a change in velocity?”

The objective questions were to be answered in 10 seconds, while the problem-solving ones were to be computed in 3 minutes. And these four young gentlemen, all ECE students of the Technological University of the Philippines Visayas in Talisay City, having hurdled the three rounds of questions covering General Mathematics, General Engineering and Applied Sciences, Communication System and Technologies and Electronics Engineering, made it as Regional Champion of the recently held Interscholastic Quiz Show sponsored by the Institute of Electronics and Communications Engineers of the Philippines Visayas Region Chapter.

Digitization: The art of preserving archival materials in the 21st century

IF YOU were born in the 1960s, chances are high that you have in your possession some memorabilia of your parents’ wedding ceremony. In the case of my parents who were married in 1962, one wedding invitation remains, along with some black and white wedding photographs.

However, by some good fortune, we still have sixteen colored Kodachrome transparencies of the said occasion.

Vamos a almorzar!

THE Quiet Place reserves October 13 and 14 (Saturday and Sunday, respectively) for buffet lunches featuring Latin American dishes prepared by muy simpatico Bolivian chef Julio. You do not need a Spanish dictionary to go through the meal because the tastebuds know no language. Besides, Spanish-influenced fare is an oh-so-familiar repast for us Filipinos.

Julio will prepare the same South American dishes that he had made me try late last month. There’s mole poblano made from chicken pieces simmered in a black sauce that will make you think of dinuguan. But surprises! Not a drop of pig or chicken blood was shed; the mysterious ingredient is unsweetened dark chocolate.

A basic grasp of one’s identity

THE news all over tri-media this week has been about COCs and election hopefuls, and cybercrimes.

During the feast of St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face celebrated at the Carmel Chapel last October 1, 2012, newly ordained priest, Rev. Fr. Roy Christian D. Gesulgon of the Diocese of Bacolod had a most insightful homily which hopefully all aspirants to a seat in government could reflect on!

A violation of freedom

ARTICLE III, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines states that “no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

Republic Act 10175 seems like a blatant disregard of this article. Everyone from the common netizen to the Human Rights Watch itself is in agreement that the new law, the so-called “Cybercrime Prevention Act” is ushering in a new era of virtual martial law.