No, they are not Igorot women. They are young Muslim (Moro) professionals who belong to the 5th cohort of Congressional Internship Program for Young Muslim Leaders (CIPYML), which is a program I used to handle. One of their internship activities is to visit local government units where they can learn the interface of legislative and executive functions and how these are supposedly translate into programs and services.

In June last year, I brought them to Baguio not only for some R&R but to learn more about the culture of Igorots, and more importantly about the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The Igorots and Moros share a yearning for self-determination. It would be recalled that the Igorots pushed for the creation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region during the Aquino Administration, but they failed to deliver the votes — thus the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region, instead. [Read on»]

Today we’ve breached the 100-blog mark!!! There are now 100 blogs listed in the Mindanao Blog Directory. Here’s a breakdown:

• Davao Region — 62
• Northern Mindanao — 13
• SOCCSKSARGEN — 12
• Caraga — 5
• Zamboanga Peninsula — 1
• ARMM — 0 so far…
• Mindanao Lovers — 7

I hope that we’ll get many more from the Zamboanga region, and start receiving submissions from ARMM as well. If you know of Mindanao bloggers who aren’t part of our Directory yet, please encourage them to submit their blogs soon!

Taken in one of my trips to Davao del Sur more than two years ago. We just attended one of the meetings of the cooperatives in Digos and going back to Davao City, we saw this God’s beautiful masterpiece. Scenes like this are always a sight to behold–one that makes you leave your pains and worries behind. I need not ask the driver, ‘Nong Mar of the Davao Integrated Development Program (which is under the care of Atty. Wendel Avisado), to stop the car so I could take a good shot of the sunset. He knew I loved the scenery, so I am sharing it with you for your appreciation, as well.

By the way, weekly, I am featuring photos in my blog, so please take time to visit it. Thanks!

(Please respect Intellectual Property rights).

Madayaw!!!

In behalf of my fellow organizers of the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit, I’d like to grab this chance to thank our first batch of sponsors. But before getting to those who came first, I’d like to announce that we’ve now signed up our pioneering external Major Sponsor, NoKiAHOST.com (P5/day webhosting) — that’s short for Network of Known internet Addicts Hosting Solutions. Neat huh?

NoKiAHOST.com will provide hosting and domain packages to lucky winners — will it be in the YGB! Review-a-Blog Competition? or in the Mindanao Blog Awards 2007? Abangan ang susunod na kabanata…

Councilor Pete Laviña, who is also a Major Sponsor++, is actually the event’s chairman and initiator. [Read on»]

We now have 5 entries in the You Got Blogged! competition. Here they are:

Review on “Alternat1ve Energy”

This is the very first submission, written by Victor Uba, who reviewed Marc Javellana’s alternative-energy blog.

Review : New*Davao A city arises

Doris Calceña reviewed Shealthiel Oczon’s blog, which forms part of a growing number of blogs that aim to promote the city of Davao.

Mandaya Moore-Orlis:Blogged and Reviewed

A review by Jessica Madrazo of the unapologetically gay blog of Mandaya Moore, who will remain anonymous… for now. (By the way, can anyone guess why Mandaya’s “married” name is Orlis?)

You Got Blogged: Jemme

Itanong Mo Kay Jemme is a blog that is entertainingly informative. Review by Winston Almendras.

My Review on Wyzemoro Blogs

Hector Miñoza provides a fresh perspective on the often intense nature of Jun Macarambon’s Wyzemoro blog.

Nine (9) more weeks to go for the You Got Blogged! Review-a-Blog competition! I’d like to invite more people to come and join this review-writing project. Help us get the word out about the blogs of Mindanao.

Our contest sponsor: Join the DigitalFilipino.com Club!

The first thing which comes to mind when someone mentions Iligan City in Lanao del Norte is the majestic Maria Cristina Falls which is one of the most resplendent among the falls in the Philippines. It stands 320 feet high and is the veritable source of industrial power in the region.

Trust me, there’s more to Iligan than just the Maria Cristina Falls… There’s also the two-tiered Limunsudan Falls which is the highest in the country that measures 870 feet and several other waterfalls which are all worthy of a visit. [Read on»]

With the indulgence of the site admin, I just want to share my blog related to the blog title. I did a mini study of the blogging behavior of the members of the blogging community–PinoyBlogoSphere (PBS). And this is what I have found out:

The blogging community prefers to be entertained and make blogging a personal experience, one reads or writes blogs to unwind, rather than engage in mind-wracking social concerns. They want to dwell on the more mundane aspect of living—its nitty-gritty and not the macro issues that beset the country. Perhaps, we already have enough of these in the news and public affairs shows and in broadsheets.

READ MORE

MindanaoBloggers.com’s sidebar space was getting kinda crowded, so I decided to take the site navigation links out to free up some precious real estate. Those links are now in the header area, right below the title.

You’ll notice there’s now a third badge at the top of the sidebar. It’s for the Mindanao Blog Awards. How do you like the logo? It was designed by Andrew, who turns out to have skills not only in programming, but in graphics design as well! We chose the vinta as the representative symbol of the Mindanao Blog Awards because it is one image that is instantly recognizable as “Mindanao” anywhere in the country. [Read on»]

We now have 5 entries to the You Got Blogged! DigitalFilipino.com / MindanaoBloggers.com Review-a-Blog Competition (the first one listed is not an entry — it’s just a sample). And to date, we have more than 80 blogs already submitted in the Mindanao Blog Directory, all available for review!

We’re trying to get more Mindanao blogs listed in the Directory. There are still quite a number of provinces with no listings. I’m happy to announce, though, that we’ve just had our first blog submissions from Sultan Kudarat and from Zamboanga City. Davao City has the most number of blogs registered, but I’m surprised that there are only 2 from Cagayan de Oro City (Misamis Oriental). When I was there last June, I had the impression that there were more bloggers out there — for one, they do have more SEO practitioners there than in Davao. [Read on»]

I have never been a die hard fan. I would cringe at the thought of lining up in a long queue for authograph signing. But sometime in 2003, I let my guards off, and what the heck! Right infront of me is one of the finest singers in town–Bayang Barrios!

>>> read more as I recount the day when I turned into a fan…

It’s time now to take away the limelight to those mainstream airlines (PAL, Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific) for the mean time and let’s focus on those humble airlines offering the so called “missionary routes” which big airline companies find unprofitable so they are shying away from them. Another reason for mainstream airlines “abandoning” the missionary routes is that their jet aircraft is not suitable for short runways.

One of my friend wants to go to Siargao but she’s having second thoughts because of the possible hassles on going there through Butuan via PAL or ebu Pacific. She doesn’t know that SEAIR flies directly to Siargao via Cebu. [Read on»]

It’s the first of August, and it’s the opening day of the You Got Blogged! DigitalFilipino.com / MindanaoBloggers.com Review-a-Blog Competition. Here’s an overview of the steps necessary to participate in this blog contest.

Step 1

• Browse the Mindanao Blog Directory, and choose a blog that you’d like to review.

Step 2

• Write a 300- to 400-word review of the blog you’ve chosen. Be thorough yet concise. You may use English, Tagalor or Visayan (Cebuano) to write your review.

• Don’t forget to cite the source! Link to the blog you are reviewing from your post.

[Read on»]