December 11, 2009
Entertainment, Features, Mindanaoan Artists, Mindanaoan Update, Music, Musings, Personal, Personalities, Photos, Society
So one of my blogs celebrated its anniversary recently and guess who my very special guest was? Atty. Adel Tamano, of course! Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Atty. Adel A. Tamano is one of the senatorial bets of the Nacionalista Party, which is led by presidential candidate Manny Villar.
Atty. Adel is the first ever Filipino-Muslim graduate of Harvard Law School, the first ever Filipino-Muslim commencement speaker of Harvard University and he’s the president of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM). And yes, he was the spokesperson of the Genuine Opposition in the 2007 elections.
Bongga ang guest ko di ba?
Actually, I spent the entire day with him and his entourage as they toured Bukidnon last December 4, 2009. He was with his brother, Atty. Aquil Tamano, as well as with other members of his team.For EXCLUSIVE photos, do visit BukidnonOnline.com 
So anyways, after a long and tiring day, we had dinner and he and his group rested for a bit. After about an hour, they arrived at the venue of my blog anniversary party. As expected, a lot of people asked for photo ops. Needless to say, not a few got smitten over the bedimpled senatoriable.
Atty. Aquil Tamano was a hit, too! Atty. Adel’s younger brother, (who, I later learned, was a heartthrob in his UP and UST law school days and was a former State Prosecutor in Lanao…hoowow!) also received a lot of curious looks from the ladies Atty. Aquil is such a fun guy to be with. Very kalog, humble and smart…just like kuya
By the way, before I forget, Atty. Adel and Atty. Aquil were at the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit held last October in Cagayan de Oro City. I will forever be grateful to them for attending the event, even if I was only able to request at the last minute.
So okay, enough of the blabbering.
October 20, 2009
Advocacy, Announcements, Business, Cagayan de Oro City, Corporate, Davao City, Events, Features, General Santos City, Internet, Journalism, Media, Mindanaoan Update, News, Society, Technology, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, agusan del norte, agusan del sur, blogging, northern mindanao, zamboanga peninsula
Nearly 300 bloggers from all over Mindanao, new media advocates and experts, Mindanaoan leaders and other stakeholders will converge in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao on October 24, 2009 for the much-awaited 2009 Mindanao Bloggers Summit, which aims to uphold the beauty and strength of the island and to expunge the negative notions the world has about it.
(Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, Philippines – October 20, 2009) – Nearly 300 bloggers from all over Mindanao will converge in Cagayan de Oro City on October 24, 2009 for the much-awaited Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3, an annual gathering of the island’s bloggers or new media practitioners.
MBS 3, which will be a whole-day affair on October 24, 2009 at Pearlmont Inn, Limketkai Drive, CDO, will banner the theme “Mindanao: Bag-Uhon Ang Panan-aw.”
“Mindanao has its share of problems, we will not deny that. However, which area in the world doesn’t? Mindanao has so many strengths as well and we want to showcase these. From the undeniably amazing tourist spots to colourful and interesting cultures and tribes to diverse flora and fauna to the truly warm and friendly people, Mindanao is the home of everything fascinating or in bloggers’ lingo – bloggable,” shares Jovelyn “Chiq” Montes, president of CDO Bloggers.
July 24, 2009
Advocacy, Announcements, Bisaya, Cagayan de Oro City, Campus, Entertainment, Events, Features, Government, Headline, Media, Mindanaoan Update, Music, News, Personalities, Politics, Society, Technology, Travel, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, blogging, northern mindanao, zamboanga peninsula
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY NEWS | MINDANAO EVENTS – How does a FREE concert featuring Hale, Spongecola, Luke Mejares and other surprise guests sound to you? Because one will happen in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao very soon! “Rock The Vote 2009” will be held on July 30, 2009, 6 PM at the Xavier University Gymnasium, Cagayan de Oro City. “Rock the Vote” Cagayan de Oro City is a free concert which aims to engage young voters, especially the first time voters, to register and exercise their right to suffrage. Rock the Vote 2009 is in line with the ongoing Register and Vote (RV) Campaign, led by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, which aims to draw out around 5 to 9 million Filipino voters for the May 2010 elections.
Check out the poster for the CDO leg of the nationwide RV Campaign:
Meanwhile, if you want to know more about the RV Campaign, Rock the Vote CDO leg and even the “RV drivers,” why don’t you read my earlier post?
By the way, if you wish to take part in this event as a BLOGGER or if you and your organization/group wants to be at the event, please don’t hesitate to CONTACT MINDANAOAN. Don’t forget to include your full name, name of group/organization and contact details.
By the way, several CDO Bloggers have already confirmed their attendance. There’s still time for you to LET ME KNOW if you’re coming, too!
After the CDO leg, the RV bus will then visit Zamboanga City on August 28, 2009. RV will also visit Mati! Stay tuned for more details. Please don’t hesitate to bookmark this page for updates or better yet SUBSCRIBE TO MINDANAOAN
July 21, 2009
Advocacy, Bisaya, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Corporate, Events, Features, Internet, Media, Mindanaoan Update, Musings, News, Opinion, Personal, Personalities, Photos, Society, Technology, Tourism, Travel, blogging, northern mindanao
Can you still remember that mixed feeling of anticipation, eagerness and curiosity — much like the feeling you had on your very first day in school? That was exactly how I felt when I attended a recent bloggers networking event in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao. Although it wasn’t my first time to attend one, I still felt like a bright-eyed girl who was so excited to learn new things, to know more updates on the goings-on in the blogosphere and to meet new people in a new town – all of whom I felt shared my love and belief on the power and beauty of the Internet and blogging. Plus I was able to invite 6 friends from Bukidnon and all of my 3 brothers! HOW COOL WAS THAT?
Mindanaoan attended the 1st Digital Filipino Club and Cagayan de Oro Bloggers Meet-up last July 17, 2009. Generously hosted by Digital Filipino Club member Syntactics, the event saw the participation of roughly 75 bloggers, IT industry players and media practitioners from Cagayan de Oro City and Bukidnon. Of course, the CDO Bloggers were there! (yey, represent! 
) It was drizzling that night but that didn’t stop the netizens from attending.
Participants paying attention…see that HP netbook on the bottom left with tons of stickers? That’s mine!
One of my brothers, Nathaniel, and I have actually attended a similar networking event last year in our hometown Davao City (which was also organized by Digital Filipino and sponsored by PAGCOR Davao) We’re a bit excited with this CDO leg, though, since it’s a relatively new, fresh group plus there were stakeholders present during the event.
The event that night kicked off with Syntactics CEO Stephanie Caragos welcoming all of us:
And then each and every participant had the chance to introduce himself/herself. We were also made to talk about what we do and about our blogs. My brother, who runs a popular tennis blog (it’s only a few months old but damn, it attracts so much daily traffic! His Tennis Guru blog also got cited in a CNN Sports Illustrated article), made quite an impression (he was then called “the tennis guy” all night long). I didn’t do bad, either…I think I shamelessly plugged Mindanaoan! (which is still less than a year old, truth be told) My two other brothers were able to catch up a few minutes later, thankfully. My videographer brother Ben and my photographer brother Bon also invited the participants to drop by the Kasalan sa Kagay-an 2009 event.
Janette Toral of Digital Filipino (yes, THE Janette Toral…the very same person who founded the Philippine Internet Commerce Society and who helped lobby for the passage of the E-Commerce Law) then gave an update on the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2009 (deadline is on July 30, 2009!) as well as on the Digital Filipino Web Awards 2009.
What I liked about Janette’s presentation was the clear diversity of blogs and niches that have gained ground in recent years. Blogs these days are no longer just personal online diaries. They’re now more informative. Blogs nowadays are more colorful, more “well-prepared”…blog entries are no longer just posted for posting sake, kumbaga. Bloggers are now keener of what their readers like and want. Bloggers now take “better” photos, they do research and really go out of their way to write something that’s really worth reading.
Janette then introduced one of the winners of the 2007 Emerging Influential Blogs awards – Aileen Apolo. Aileen lang naman is the country consultant of Google (can you say WOW?) Now I have a little confession to make — I’ve been an avid reader of her blog since 2005/2006. I remember feeling happy when Miguel (her son) won something or sad when she felt lonely and confused. And then when I found out that she had Twitter, I immediately “followed” her tweets. I was also very elated when I found out that she finally found Mr. Right! *aah, love*Aileen’s engaged!
After Aileen’s talk, it was Syntactics‘ turn to share their experience. Syntactics has, for two years in a row, bagged prizes at the Digital Filipino Web Awards. Kagay-anons must be so proud to have a company like this in their city!
Syntactics also informed all of us about its advocacy arm – LetIThelp. True to the mission of social enterprises which is “bridging social opportunity into sustainable reality innovatively, effectively and efficiently,” LetIThelp.org helps the local community by selecting deserving fresh graduates in Mindanao and helping them find right opportunities in their chosen fields of profession. Seeing that there are more and more outsourcing job opportunities here in the Philippines, LetIThelp.org aims to help develop a ready pool of trained and experienced IT professionals. They do this by conducting FREE seminars to colleges and universities in Northern Mindanao to further educate the IT graduating students and to prepare them on the tough life outside the classroom. What’s also commendable about LetIThelp.org’s advocacy is that they will focus more on the hiring of underprivileged fresh graduates coming from Mindanao. A Mindanao based company helping Mindanaoans? That deserves two thumbs up!
Dinner was then served then the networking opportunity began!
Cagayan de Oro City, by the way, will play host to the much-awaited Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 (MBS CDO) on October 24, 2009. Hence, the bloggers event that night did pave the way for bloggers, stakeholders and other supporters to finally meet and exchange ideas. That 1st Digital Filipino and CDO Bloggers Meet-Up sure provided the platform for new connections to be established and for existing ones to be strengthened further! Two thumbs up!
There was a raffle draw that night as well. Two of my brothers won! The Tennis Guru guy got an AyosDito t-shirt (which ultimately went to me because it was a girlie shirt) and my other bro got an AyosDito notebook plus pen (cool!)
By the way, Janette also gave a post-event treat — the first 10 bloggers who attended the event and who’d become a fan of Jupiter Suites’ Facebook Page would get free pouches from Jupiter Suites – a budget hotel in Makati City! Now with all those treats, freebies and amazing networking opportunities, who wouldn’t want to become a blogger and start attending networking events like these, yes?
To Janette, Digital Filipino, Syntactics and to my fellow Mindanao bloggers – thanks for making the event memorable and definitely one for the blogs! 
Check out the very busy bloggers meeting their fellow bloggers and IT industry players:
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Blog Action Day 2009 Philippines: Climate Change
October 15, 2009
Advocacy, Beauty, Commentary, Consumer, Controversial, Events, Features, Internet, Media, Mindanaoan Update, Musings, News, Opinion, Personal, Society, blogging
1 comment
Today, October 15, 2009, is Blog Action Day 2009. Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that aims to unite all the bloggers of the world and encourage them to post about the same issue on the very same day. This, in the hope to ignite discussions about that particular issue and to inspire people to take action. This year, the topic for Blog Action Day 2009 is Climate Change.
I, Mindanaoan, am joining thousands of other Pinoy bloggers for the Blog Action Day 2009 – Philippines Edition. And we Filipinos of all people know very well just how devastating the effects of climate change are. After our harrowing experience with tropical storms Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) and Pepeng (international name: Parma), we should no longer put this issue of climate change aside.
It’s real. It’s there.
We’ve felt it. We’ve seen it.
However, I know that some Mindanawans out there might think, “well, we hardly have typhoons in Mindanao. We’re luckier here.”
WRONG.
This I say to all of you – climate change isn’t limited to selected parts of the world. It’s not limited to just Luzon or Visayas. It doesn’t just occur in the U.S. or in Botswana. Climate change affects the entire world and even if we’re in an area that’s rarely hit by typhoons, we should never take this for granted. The effects may not be felt now but they will be very soon. Mark my words.
For sure, there are so many Blog Action Day 2009 Pilipinas blog posts out there that try to enumerate the devastating effects of climate change and that try to urge you to ACT and not just react.
In my post today, however, I want to try and share with you all some of my “fears” — some of the worries that I have pertaining to climate change.
For one, I’m scared of famine. According to studies, developing countries, many with average temperatures that are already near or above crop tolerance levels, are predicted to suffer an average 10 to 25 percent decline in agricultural productivity by the 2080s. And yes, this is because of climate change.
I’m worried about large-scale migrations and massive starvation. Because of climate change, agricultural production may decrease further and this means that more and more people will go hungry. Who wants this?
I have thankfully not been attacked by dengue (knock on wood) but can you imagine this — spread of dengue fever because of climate change! Scientists predict warmer temperatures will allow mosquitoes carrying Dengue Fever to travel outside the tropics. Remember, there is NO vaccine yet for dengue.
Smoking may be banned in Davao City but experts say that because of climate change, people may die of smog! No matter how many city ordinances will be passed, smog will be there to stay and Canadian doctors say smog-related deaths may rise by 80 percent over the next 20 years. Scary!
There will also be more hurricanes, more floods, more fires (!) because of climate change. We may have to say goodbye to lakes (goodbye Lake Apo and Lake Sebu!), to precious mangrove trees (just like the ones found at Matina Aplaya) and to glaciers! (To see a real, huge glacier is part of my bucket list) We may need to say goodbye to tarsiers, koala bears, tamaraws, Philippine eagles and Philippine deers. Goodbye to White Island in Camiguin and to the rainforests in Mindanao. Goodbye to beautiful Samal beaches and amazing marine creatures.
Just the thought makes me cringe. Climate change is a scary thought.
So Pilipinas – what do we need to do? When will we do it?
I bet you know the answer.