SONA expectations

A random poll of what Baguio residents feel President Benigno Aquino III should include in today’s State of the Nation Address

“Perhaps on autonomy and mining, so we here in the Cordillera would know his views about it... his mother was the ‘author’ (if I may say) of CAR and mining, it is a national issue which we here in the region have a major stake.”

Regional Academic Festival held to celebrate CAR’s 25th Anniversary

“SAY IT loud! Say it clear! I am an Igorot!” This was the striking greeting from one of the contestants in the recently held rhetorical contest in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Barangays, NGOs to benefit from mushroom propagation

A MAJORITY of Baguio’s barangays and even non-government organizations are expected to benefit from a mushroom propagation livelihood program introduced to village leaders here in City Hall last weekend.

The result of a partnership between the Office of Baguio Lone Congressional District Representative Bernardo Vergara and the Department of Agriculture regional office in the Cordillera under Regional Executive Director Marilyn Sta. Catalina, the said program is set to start off with a minimum of 40,000 fruiting bags of oyster mushrooms this month.

Birthdays and Cupcakes

HELLO dear readers. Was absent for quite a while and really missed you. Today let’s do a little of the busy Mom's shortcuts to a child's birthday cake. We all know that the cakes these days are really price prohibitive. And it takes all sorts of cutting corners to buy a cake for a birthday bash. Now, short of baking your own cake, it is prudent for us to learn how to cut corners and still come up with a good-looking cake and still not spend too much. How does one do this?

Cordillera Coffee’s high international business potential

THE Cordillera region’s topography has always been favorable for the production of organic and natural coffee. It is perceived to bring potential source of income and employment while diversifying food production and improving the forest cover of reforestation areas and marginal lands in the region.

The Philippine Coffee Board, created in 2002 through its co-chairman Pacita Juan, reiterated during the opening of the 1st Cordillera Coffee Fiesta at the Benguet State University that come 2020 the international coffee industry is set to have a coffee production shortfall of close to 32 million coffee bags.

Road to recovery too long for 5-year-old

IT WILL be a long way back home to Tinoc, Ifugao for Jeremiah Tuda, a five-year-old confined since last March at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

“He’s placed in isolation,” Jenelyn, his 25-year-old mother, said of her second child.

America in 3D Pinoy style

AMERICA paved the way for us to gain our independence. What will become of us without their help? Let’s admit we owe a part of our freedom to them.

America in one way portrays a challenging role in our history. America influences us in areas of education, business and trade, industries and infrastructures, agriculture and warfare.

Coron – Island Paradise

THE Rural Bank of Itogon (RBI), Baguio Branch staff, had their annual outing in CORON - a wedge-shaped limestone island located in northern PALAWAN which has the most scenic part of the province. It is a small coastal town belonging to islands endowed with clean white beaches, clear blue waters, beautiful coves, towering limestone cliffs and enchanting lakes and a host to a number of high-end resorts. This island is unparalleled in its landscape and its sharp vertical cliffs are breeding grounds for local birds, whose prized nests are harvested for Nido soup. CORON has seven lakes, famous of which is the nationally-acclaimed cleanest lake in the Philippines, the KAYANGAN Lake.

From sunset to sunrise

MORE than a decade ago, local tobacco farmers were producing the salty and off-type variety of tobacco which most cigarette manufacturers started rejecting in 2003. By that time, local tobacco farming was already being dubbed as a “sunset industry,” with production levels reaching its lowest from 2004 to 2006.

This was in stark contrast to the glory years of the tobacco industry in the 1990s when the Philippines was a major exporter of Burley and Virginia tobacco.

The right way to dress for teachers

IT is school time again; teachers and students are back inside the classroom. Coming to school needs a lot of preparation and one is choosing the right clothes to make an impressive identity as the school year starts. In going to the teaching field, teachers must wear the appropriate clothes to look professional; this applies for both new and veteran teachers.

More teens becoming moms

THE Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies among youths aged 15 to 19 compared to the other neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific that have a better record of 34 births per 1,000 women.

Studies conducted by various health and population organizations show that there is an increasing number of young ladies ending as moms as early as ages 15 to 19. According to the National Demographic and Health survey for 2008, 10 percent of the country’s girls aged 15 to 19 become pregnant with their first child.

Freedom and good governance

HAVING granted our freedom was the most important event in the history of our country. Our forefathers sacrificed their lives just for us to be free against foreign aggression, tyranny and slavery. But were these sacrifices by our Filipino martyrs and heroes worth it today?

Remember Cecile Afable

RELATIVES, friends and members of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club, Inc. gathered last Thursday, June 14 at the residence of the late Cecile Afable who joined her creator on Independence Day.

Auntie Cecile to many and Madame Cecile to others was remembered by members of the Fourth Estate where she was a founding member.

Migrant Workers’ Day celebration in Cordillera

MORE than six hundred (600) participants, which includes Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) including their family members/dependents, joins this year’s regional celebration of Migrant Workers’ Day, that was spearheaded by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA-CAR), in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-CAR) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA-CAR).

Potatoes

LAST Wednesday, one of our favorite people, Mrs. FABIOLA FIANZA BOSEMAN celebrated her birthday at the Baguio Country Club with a seat down dinner. On the menu was grilled lamb steak and roast turkey. Accompanying the entrees were the usual salad, buttered veggies and mashed potatoes. Bringing us to what I considered the pièce de résistance of the evening. Mashed potatoes. Though the choice of the pièce de résistance might be odd, not being an entree, the mashed potatoes were so good that to highlight them would not be unearned. Frequently, mashed potatoes is thought of as baby food, and seldom is treated as an adult accompaniment in the same way as fries, baked, or boiled potatoes.

Serenata: A Concert for the Children

THE May rain in the early evening of the 20th dripped like chains through the parachute tents but didn’t stop the generous serenaders from raising their notes to the heavens for the children. The children being the beneficiaries of the funds raised to rehabilitate the facilities and equipment at the Children’s Park in Burnham Park.

The real character in Lady Gaga’s songs

IS SHE the real character in her songs and videos or just a picture that depicts the sinful life we have today? Is she a monster? Among her contemporaries, what makes her different? Even her fashion is striking and unusual.

We admit Lady Gaga is one of the most bankable singers of her generation. Her influence can’t be questioned; most of her songs hit the charts, young and old alike sing and memorize clearly the words of her songs.

Harbin: Winter Wonderland (part 2)

THE Rural Bank of Itogon executives continue on their HARBIN winter adventure in CHINA. Our tour guide advised us to don our thickest winter clothes for the next day. He said that the temperature could go as low as -30 degrees centigrade at the frozen SONGHUA RIVER. This river runs through Harbin from west to east, and is one of HARBIN’s tourist attractions. In summer months, there are sightseeing launches and for the brave, swimming.

As it is a wow!

by John Vincent Toribio

FOR 20 years now, only twice I dipped my feet in the Cordilleras- once when I was a third grader (only for a day) and now that I'm an intern on my bachelor's degree course (for around two months). With these, only fool I am if I say a single second was me on boredom.

School’s cool at SM

GOING back to school means going back to wearing uniforms. But these do not have to be drab when worn with school stuff from SM Kids Fashion and Accessories.

Kids can make school cool with preppy inspired cardigans for girls and varsity jackets for boys Hoodies are also hot especially with rainy weather ahead.

The wonderful, fragrant, and versatile onion family

FROM strong to sweet, scallions to leeks, knowing which members of the onion family to use when is a key to great cuisines around the world.

Scallions: Immature yellow onions, scallions are also known as green onions or salad onions, doubtless because of their mild flavor makes them an excellent choice to use raw for salads and garnishes. They're good in stir-fries, mixed into egg dishes and can even be grilled. Use any part of the scallion that's not tired and limp

SK, UB MassComm end summer with SYF

THE Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) Officials of Barangay Bakakeng Norte/Sur, together with the University of Baguio Mass Communication and Broadcasting department, ended the summer vacation with a summer youth festival where various events were conducted last week of May to develop leaderships skills of the youth, their perspectives, their visions, and to also give time for them to reflect as a step towards change.

Kids shine in swimming and music workshops

SUMMER ends with great memories. Our children got to experience challenging activities this summer such as engaging in sports like swimming, getting into music and arts like dance and voice lessons, learning to play instruments such as guitar, drums, piano and acoustics. Our children have talents and abilities just needing to be nurtured.

Whip it tree: Philippines and Indonesia

THIS June 2 to 6, a WHIP IT (Workshop Happening in the Philippines and Indonesia Thanks!) will be held at Berkat Anugerah Resort in Indonesia which is one hour and thirty minutes away from Jakarta.

Whip it tree: Philippines and Indonesia

THIS June 2 to 6, a WHIP IT (Workshop Happening in the Philippines and Indonesia Thanks!) will be held at Berkat Anugerah Resort in Indonesia which is one hour and thirty minutes away from Jakarta.

High rating FM talk radio show marks its 1st Year Anniversary

AFTER a year and a month old in the FM band, the tandem of Tatang Edong Carta and Lolong Jimmy Luzano continuous to lord over other FM morning programs with their talk radio program "TAMBALANG TATANG EDONG CARTA AT LOLO DORSKI JIMMY LUZANO" at 98.7 Z Radio.

2011 CNN Hero Robin Lim launches book

ROBIN Lim, the 2011 Cable News Network Hero of the Year, recently held a book signing reception for her 2009 novel, Butterfly People at The Podium. Published by Anvil Publishing, Butterfly People is a fictional tribute to six generations of Robin’s Filipino family from Baguio, where she grew up and where much of this work of “magic realism” takes place.

Brigada Eskwela and Barangay Clean and Green

ONCE again, all schools in the country today have started their Brigada Eskwela to prepare for the coming school year 2012.

Department of Education-Baguio, private sectors, Baguio City National High School and Annexes, Roxas National High School, Mil-an National High School and Irisan National High School, represented by their school heads, teachers, parents and students, in collaboration with the our local officials led by Mayor Mauricio Domogan, launched this year’s Brigada Eskwela on May 21 until May 25, with the distribution of cleaning tools and materials needed for the renovation, repairs and repainting of classroom, chairs, windows, ceilings and areas or facilities in the school which needed remodeling.

Holcim Philippines reaches out to the community

AROUND 1,700 employees of Holcim Philippines volunteered their company time for communities around their plant in Bacnotan, La Union on May 24.

The activity, which is part of the company’s centennial celebration, was conducted simultaneously with other plants located in Bulacan, Taguig, Misamis Oriental and Davao.

JCI-Baguio 63rd charter anniversary

THE Junior Chamber International Baguio Inc. (JCI Baguio Inc.) will celebrate its 63rd Charter Anniversary at 6 p.m. of May 26 at Café Fernando, FRB Building, University of Baguio, General Luna Road, Baguio City.

The program will include the honoring of past presidents and the induction of new members and will be capped off by a fellowship night.