The Mindanao Bloggers Summit took place last Saturday (Oct. 24) at Pearlmont Inn Hotel here in Cagayan de Oro City. There were a lot of bloggers who participated in the event. Bloggers from Davao City, General Santos City, Zamboanga City, Iligan City, and even some not from Mindanao like Manila, and Baguio I guess. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Yes, bloggers from places as far as those came all the way here in Cagayan de Oro City to join the said event. I am sure it was an honor for Cagayan de Oro City to be hosting such an event.
Major sponsors to the event were: Nokia Ovi, Smart Communication, Havaianas, Ultracraft, 1st Rafting Adventures, Cong. Rolando "Klarex" Uy, and the Cagayan de Oro City Govt. Among the minor sponsors were: Syntactics, OLX Classified Ads, MakatiAve.com, Province of Misamis Oriental, Magnet Advertising, Del Monte, The Site, Majesty Sales Center, Clara's Shoppe, RG&K Construction, Pagua's Cottages, The Pacifica.com Companies, Asterisk Event and Communications, and Loretos Bar and Grill.
The theme of this event is "Mindanao Bag-uhon ang Panan-aw". This as a 2 day event, actually. The first day took place on a Saturday, and the next one happened on the following day. The main event happened on the first day, while the second day, which is either the City Tour or the White Water Rafting Adventure depending on the package chosen, would be an opportunity for fellow bloggers to get along and know each other better.
The first day was packed with a lot of lectures from different personalities--both from the political field, and the blogging community. The morning was filled with talks about how significant the bloggers' impact is on the image of a hometown--in our case, Mindanao. Important people who attended and gave a talk were Mayor Tinnex Jaraula, DCM Leslie Bassett, Atty. Adel Tamano, and Agusan Rep. Rodolfo "Ompong" Plaza. Mr. Bloggie Robillo also gave the introductory presentation for the summit. At the end of the presentation, he showed an inspiring scene of the map of Mindanao with all the major locations hopefully mushroomed with Blogger Groups on the area.
Right after lunch break, another set of lectures were delivered by different blogging personalities who are successful in the blogging industry. Among these were Ms. Aileen Apolo, Mrs. Janette Toral, and Mr. Lyle Santos. Then after that, updates about what bloggers from the different areas have been doing were presented in the most likely fassion. First to deliver were the Davao Bloggers, then the GenSan, Zamboanga, and then CDO. I can't jot down down as of the moment the details of the lectures and the presentation on this post. Probably on future posts.
Overall, the event was fun. I learned a lot from the lectures. My urge to write up more about my beloved Mindanao was hoisted on top of the flagpole. The lectures about monitizing through blogging was very informative. And that was just probably half of the iceberge for me. The other half would constitute the meeting of a lot of fellow bloggers. Literally, everyone in the venue were bloggers; except of course for some media men who came and a few more sponsors to the event. Among the people I have personally met were Davao bloggers: Kevin Paquet, Ms. Dulce Lada, Tammy Sulit, and Pearl Dy. From Iligan is Mrs. Arlene Collado. Here in Cagayan de Oro are the ever accomodating: Mrs. Phebie Anne Normandia, Eleanor Aguilar, and Elaine Pagunsan. These are the lovely ladies I got to be with throughout the whole event. Other CDO bloggers I met are friendly bloggers: Jane, Pangit ster, Ms. Chique Montes (the lively organizer of the event), Shane, etc. I will edit this post in the future with the links to their blog site as soon as I find everyone on the web. There were still others I could not get the names because I haven’t look them up yet on various networking sites. I will add them to this list when I can.
I will probably disclose the details of the event and my experiences on it in another article. As of now I guess this will be enough. Links will come later.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 Conclusion
Friday, September 4, 2009
Mindanao: A Safe Place, or Not?
Just a few days ago, I came across a post on a blog by an American expat who is now living in Davao City. His article talked about how people are, as I suspected, mislead to think that living here in Mindanao was a pretty stupid thing to do and that we're as good as dead while standing on this island. At first, I wasn't surprised by this notion because from time to time I do hear about instances on a number of people thinking otherwise about the safety in Mindanao. But as I continued reading his story, and after a couple of skim through some of the comments, I found it very ridiculous of a thought that there are still a number of people who gets so paranoid even by just hearing the name Mindanao. On his article, I read that one of his close friends even got to the extent of bad-mouthing him on an online forum after knowing that Bob (the author of the article) decided to live permanently in Davao City, which I think, by the way, is one of the best places to live here in Mindanao (and the whole Philippines for that matter). I was quite surprised by those kinds of reactions. This was worse than I expected. People have been trying to discourage people from coming here. When somebody says, "Hey, there was this thing that I was blabber blabber blabber and I was thinking that yada yada. . . blah blah . . Mindanao and . ." And then all of a sudden, "Huh?! What?! Are you out of your mind?? There's this friggin this and friggin that and . . you're a crazy ass stupid . ." Now this, all the more, hyped me up to continue writing on this blog. So the question, is Mindanao a safe place?
*Photo in courtesy of illinoisreview.typepad.com.
There are couple of points to take note for those people who react like the air here in Mindanao is poison. First, and Bob pointed out on this very significant fact, those people who were so concerned about their loved ones coming to Mindanao have never ever set foot on Mindanao's soil in the first place. Well, of course, they hear a lot of things about Mindanao through the media and other people; but the media most of the time only announce those things which are quite intruiging for them to be able to sell their story. Those people should have a good ground for telling their loved ones or other people all the negative misconceptions about Mindanao, otherwise, they're just giving the place a bad name and depriving their loved ones of a really wonderful experience. Why have I said that? Well, let me just give you a few list of what those people would be missing if they don't try out Mindanao: Firstly, Camiguin is in Mindanao, a must visit paradise. I can't even start writing down about what makes Camiguin such an amazing place because that would span a number of pages. Second, are you looking for incredible surfing spots? Then you'll miss Siargao if you cross-out Mindanao from your list, not to mention their becharming beaches. Of course, Davao City would be left out if you wouldn't be considering Mindanao; and that would be a pity because not only are you smothering youself from an air full of unforgettable experiences (you can take a look of what I mean by checking out the list under Blogroll beside this column), but also you would be missing the thousand reasons why you would be tempted to live in Davao permanently. In Malaybalay, they have this well known Kaamulan festival where many ethnic groups from all over the Bukidnon province parade on the streets of Malaybalay and showcase their beautiful and colorful culture. In my Cagayan de Oro, well, both foreigners and locals alike flock our raging rivers almost everyday (if not everyday) for that irreplacable thrill packed along the adventures of white water rafting. And of course, there are still a lot of spectacular things I failed to mention here. These are just some of the things that I'm familiar with. If you know other things besides this, I recommend you to list them down as comments below and come back to this line afterwards.
Okay, some of the people might have grounds for fearing to come here in Mindanao: there are a couple of bombings, kidnappings, and military crossfires between the rebel groups reported on the news. But it doesn't mean that these things happen all over Mindanao. In fact, as Bob also pointed out, these usually happen on marginal areas here in Mindanao. Remember, Mindanao is such a large place. And a huge part of it is completely safe. It's a no-brainer to realize this. Okay, yes, we heard about a bombing incident in Sasa, Davao some time ago. But that was just a one time event. After that incident, the security level in Davao was heightened. Until now, you can still see these diligent military personnel scattered around the city. In fact, I think Davao may even be one of the safest places to live nowadays here in the Philippines. Should I give credit to the Davao Death Squad for that, or no? Okay, I don't want to spark up a controversy now, so I guess I'll leave that out for another post.
Another incident would be the recent bombing in Bukidnon. In my opinion, that incident most likely happened on an area far enough from the city for people not to be alarmed about it because none of my friends living there even made a big deal about it.
These things happened, yes, and so did the infamous 9/11 incident with the World Trade Center in New York City and the one at the Pentagon in Washington. My point is, it would be unfair to brand Mindanao a dangerous place or a warzone when in fact these things happen all over the world also.
For the full details about Bob's article, check out this page: http://mindanao.com/blog/2009/01/hard-to-change-attitudes/#comments
So, is Mindanao a safe place to live? Yes, definitely. I think some of the people who object to this are just over-reacting or perhaps they are just too ignorant to be able to say those things about Mindanao. And would I rather live anywhere else than Mindanao? Definitely, no. Well, I could travel once in a while, but nothing would replace this paradise which I have here that is Mindanao.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Nature Tripping at the Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Village
Sometimes, when the taste of the city starts to become too much for my senses, what I do is loosen up a bit and go to some place that cradles me back to my roots, some place that invokes the word earth. A place where I could just sit back and say, "Wow, this Earth is beautiful." A place that deceives you into believing that you're in a vacation and that there are no classes or work the following day. One such place here in Cagayan de Oro City would be the fresh and green Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Village.
All you nature lovers out there, I know you're expecting most places in the world to have at least one ecological park or anything similar to that. So here's one here in Cagayan de Oro City.
The Gardens of Malasag is one of the spots here in Cagayan which is constantly promoted by the government. Go to the City Tourism Showhouse, and you're likely to be pointed towards this place (The Gardens of Malasag is currently 2nd in the list at Cagayan de Oro City's official website), and for a good reason.
Photo in courtesy of http://www.cagayandeoro.gov.ph
One Sunday afternoon, I decided to take a visit to this getaway. To get there, I have to take two rides from the city: a jeepney ride towards Malasag which costs me only P10.00, and another ride by motorcycle (called habal-habal in the dialect) going uphill (locals there say fare only costs P6.00, but I usually give them P10.00).
Just one advice when riding the habal-habal, take note of the muffler's location and go down the opposite side--after that ride, I had a minor accident wherein my right leg touched the burning muffler. It was painful, of course. After that, lesson learned.
On the entrance, you have to pay for the entrance fee. The prices will be attached at the end of this article.
The first thing that greeted me at the entrance were the friendly smiles of the natives dressed in their colorful costumes, and a music so beautiful played by some natives using flutes and percussions. The music sounded so attached to these beautiful people's culture, and at the same time it felt like it reminded me of the presence of nature. I believe in music culture they call this World Music. Below are some of the natives parading inside the venue's streets. They do this around 4-5pm everyday. Not all of them were taken though--I was only using a phone camera while taking this.
Some Observations
The place showcases some of the country's resources that affirms the country's richness. From plants to trees, butterflies to birds, from lizards to several types of snakes, and other several types of animals—you'll find them here.
Of course, how would I forget the beautiful ethnic groups that are living there to showcase the rich and colorful culture that Mindanao nests even before the foreign colonizers of Philippines' history has reached these shores. Ethnic groups such as the Subanons, the Higaunons, the Talaandigs, and many more are very welcoming. You are free to go and make some interviews, check out their livelihood products, arts, or just have a chat with them. I myself had conducted a couple of interviews with the different tribes in the place during different times, and still they remain as hospitable as they were the first time.
Having mentioned about their livelihood products, yes, the place is packed with souvenirs. And I would recommend every tourist or local visitors to set aside some extra cash and grab some souvenirs when you get there. It's worth the few pesos. As for their price, well the price varies depending on the material. But I would say a P100.00 is more than enough for a small souvenir that would last a lifetime of wonderful memories on your visit to that place.
PricesEntrance Fee Day Night Adult 30.00 50.00 Children 20.00 30.00 Swimming Pool Adult 50.00 50.00 Children 40.00 40.00 Camping Fee: (Overnight stay at the campground) Children or Adult 100.00 per person Fixing Fee or Tent (irrespective of size) 100.00 per tent
These are the prices as of the time this article is written. Prices may slightly change any time after this, but usually it won't be as much as P5.00. During my elementary days (that was more than 10 years ago), entrance fee for children was P15.00. Eight years after that, it only increased P5.00.
The place also has cottages available for people planning to stay there for the night. For the rates, check out this site: http://www.philtourism.gov.ph/ecom_rates.html.Just Hanging Out at the Restocafe
Now for most of the part, just staying at the Higaunon Restocafe may be the only thing I will be doing when I come back there. The view there is just amazing. A beautiful sketch of the Macajalar Bay caresses my eyes as I sit there, just gazing, wishing that the moment will never end. It's a beautiful place for friends, families, or couples to hang-out. I really recommend the place. At the same time, while enjoying the view, you guys can munch on their menu which they serve at reasonable prices. For warm afternoons, they have fruit shakes. For the other extreme, I believe they serve coffee (or beer perhaps). The restocafe closes at 10pm on every day of the week. So you could plan to have your dinners there.
A magnificent view of Macajalar Bay and Camiguin Island.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Mindanaoan Prologue
Here I will try to show in this whole blog how one enjoys life in the city, well, in my point of view that is. This I write in the context of living in a city situated here in one of the major islands in the Philippines—Mindanao. This blog can also be thought of as a travel guide for tourists who wishes or plans to visit the Philippines, particularly Mindanao. Or maybe for people from other parts of the country who were thinking of visiting the south side of the country but does not know what to expect from the place, they can make this their first step in coming to the shores of Mindanao. But perhaps it would be safer to say to people planning to do that kind of endeavor not to make this blog the sole basis of their travel guide. Here I just give the reader an idea of what it is like living in the cities of Philippines, particularly in Mindanao, and in the context of a young adult’s mind. I present this in the fashion of recounting the events that took place in cities here in Mindanao where I have resided or spent a considerable amount of time. Here I present a picture of the places and events with an eye deprived of bias. Here on this blog I will try and religiously paint a picture of people, situations, and places that made Mindanao an endearing home to me.
I am currently residing in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. As you can see in the map below, she is situated at the bay area in the Northern part of Mindanao. This means that beaches are just a ride away! That would be about 20% of the allowance given to an average student like me. Economists say that this city is an economic hub: people who travel from the North to the south or vice versa, have to pass by Cagayan de Oro City.
Anyway, I guess that would be enough for now. On the next blogs to come, I will slowly introduce to the reader the shores of a place I call home—Mindanao.
