child’s play

dili ako makatoo sa balita na mahamok na gaprotesta sa china gymnastic team sa min-agi na olympics. laong nila dapat daw kuhaan nan gold medal an mga chinese gymnastic medalists kay mga underage pa kuno. sa rule sagud nan olympic gymnastics dapat moabot naay kaw nan desi-saes, 16 years old, para kaw makaintra nan iton na duha.

para sa ako dili madayaw yaon na desisyon o protesta kay uno sa dayon lugar kon mga bata pa iton yangapil nan olympics. magpasalamat pa gani kita na iton mga bata yan-apil sa mga duha kaysa adto mahisingod sa duwa sa internet games o ngadto magyop-yop nan marijuana o shabu o rugby ba kaha.

basin sab agaw gaprotesta inin mga manhak kay yasipgan sila kay yapilde sila nan mga bagets na katiguwang na nila. tagdaog lugar sila nan mga bata. wara kita kasayod basin amo agaw ini sab an rason. o gusto lang gayud nila lang-on na an mga bata dili pwede sa olympics. 

dapat lang sab na ipada gayud nan china o iban pa na nasod an pinakamadayaw o banggiitan sa tanan sa olympics. amo sa gyud dapat yaon an basehan, dili kon an edad.

nanga lagi sab tagbutangan pa nan balaod na 16 years old da gayud an maapil. inin olympics dili sa bagan para kita modaog kundili para ipakita nato sa tibuok kalibutan na kita mga amigo o amiga. friendship or goodwill game sa bagan inin olympic games; dili an pagdaog nan mga medals. pero madayaw sab hinuan na makakuha kita nan medal.

yaon pa gani sab makalangutay sa tanan. nanga lugar, inin swimming for example, dapat scientific gayud an paglangoy. kon pananglit lugar malunod an barko, kinahanglan ba mag-scientific langoy kita para kita maluwas. an importante sa bagan sa swimming is kon sin-o pinakapaspas molangoy.

sa tan-aw ko yangahadlok inin mga dagko o sapian na mga nasud na mapilde kon dili scientific an pagkalangoy. isa siguro ini nila na paagi para inin mga nasud na waray kwarta para ipa-training sa mga athletes nila dili gayud makadaog sa swimming. hibawo sagud sila na kon ma-training inin mga athletes nan mga archipelagic nations sa swimming, makaubo o hubakon gayud sila sa langoy.

kon dili scientific an swimming, kaya kaha nila pildihon inin ato mga lumon na tausog? inday lamang kon dili sila makaiti abay lumanat paglangoy. abo na kay kalimpyo ug tin-aw nan tubig sa swimming pool. inin sa pier da gani na kalubog nan tubig, itsahan mo nan piso sirit sa gayud dayon pagsawom.

where is the gold?

i could not blame many filipinos to feel frustrated after the beijing olympics ended and the philippines did not even get any medal, even a bronze medal. the frustration, of course, could not be directed to the philippine delegation or athletes. the frustration is because of the less or no support at all by the government and the private sector in sports development programs.

or let us just say that there are more reasons, not just the long drought of gold medal in the olympics, that frustrate filipinos. if i’ll be pessimistic enough, there could never be any reason to be proud of being a filipino. it’s no wonder that our muslim brothers do not want to be called filipinos even though they have lived in the philippines since time immemorial, as they claimed. i could already consider the idea of working and immigrating abroad.

i could not disagree with them that the filipino’s barometer of success in the olympics is harvesting gold medals. but it is not about reaping gold in the olympiad the aim of that sporting event. it is the rare chance for every athlete of every nation to participate. 

we should be happy and congratulate our filipino delegates for representing our country in this world sporting event. we should be grateful that these athletes have undergone many qualifying events before they were admitted to the olympic games in beijing. these filipino athletes are our sport ambassadors during that game. they showed the world that amids the hardship the filipinos are facing in this trying time, we could still produce good athletes who value sportmanship.

i wish that these athletes will be proud enough to put or inscribed in their resume, even they were not able to snatch a medal, that they were olympians. our delegation falling short to get into the finals of the event were performing their best. they even broke their philippine record. 

willing wang won a gold in wushu, a demonstration event whose results do not count on the official medal standing of the country. at least, the phililppine anthem was played even once in the olympic city.

i have a firm belief and high hope that we could harvest gold medals in the next olympic, especially if the government and private sector would be sincere enough in strengthening our country’s sports programs. we can even produce world sport icons without a stronger sport programs, how much more with one.

congratulations and mabuhay, filipino olympians!

Equation: 7,107 islands and islets equal Philippines

the philippines, my beloved country, homeland and birth place is an archipelago composed of several islands and islets.

i am still amuse by the answer of ms. charlene gonzales-muhlach during the question-and-answer portion of the miss universe pageant held in the philippines in 1994. she was asked then of how many islands comprised the philippines. her answer was, ” Low tide or High Tide? During low tide, the Philippines has 7,107 islands and islets; during high tides, it has 7,100 islands.”

ms. gonzales answer was enough reminder to all filipinos of what philippines was, is and will be in terms of geographical composition. you subtract one islet, island or component of its territorial land or sea, then that’s no longer philippines. i don’t know what to call our country then. maybe with another name. and the philippines as a name and as a country including filipinos as inhabitants of this unique paradise will be history. there could be no “city within a city”  for it would be no philippines at all.

some of our moro brothers and sisters wanted to establish an independent moro land with all the necessities of becoming an independent state or country. an independent state within the philippines, the like of georgia in USSR, through the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) which will become operative, first, with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. we are so glad that the supreme court stopped the signing of the ancestral domain agreement.

one of the premises is filipino-muslims wanted to have a self-identity which they alleged to have been displaced by the present system of government. they would like to have a system governed by muslim laws. the republic of the philippines and our constitution does not prohibit any filipino to practice their own religion or customs. actually an autonomous region of muslim mindanao (ARMM) was created for this purpose; to give them the autonomy to govern and be governed by their own tribe. the success or failure of ARMM is, of course, another story and could not be blame on the majority of filipinos. 

filipino-muslims claim that mindanao is owned by the moros or bangsamoro as has been defined by the moa of ancestral domain. bangsamoro therefore refers to all moros or indigenous people of mindanao. there is already a mistake in that definition. filipinos own the philippines regardless of their ascendancy or their tribe.

filipinos origins were from central and east asia. the nearest genetic relative of filipinos were those from the Ami tribe of Taiwan.

filipino-muslims are not the first inhabitants of mindanao. lumads were already living in mindanao before the muslim came. similarly in the other islands in the philippines and they had practiced their own way of living unique from one tribe or barangay to another. it could be that these lumads had assimilated into the culture of the muslims when the south-western part of mindanao was conquered by muslims. it was actually led by the prince from morocco. or lumads could had been driven off by the occupying force or relocated in another part of mindanao.

muslims like spaniards and americans were colonizers of the philippines. it is wrong to debate that muslims were the first inhabitants of mindanao. only that muslim were not able to colonize the whole archipelago and had not been successful in converting lumads, our ancestors, to muslim culture. but the americans and spaniards colonizers had done that.

we are no longer in a time that a vast areas of land are available for the taking that when a group of mighty military forces came to occupy our place we could just relocate in another area. treating the proposed BJE in the guise of peace in mindanao is not a solution to it. if we are going to base it on the definition of the moa, then we have to create a hundred of BJEs in the philippines. partition or division in the name of peace is not a better way to attain lasting peace in mindanao, in particular, or in the philippines, as a whole. just take a look what happened to USSR and georgia.

i understand that our filipino-muslims community wanted a self-governed state more than what ARMM could give them. i can guess a hidden reason for that. other tribes also have that denominator. it’s actually economics 101.

i still have a great faith on the law of our land, our consitution. i know we have some complaints but not because of the law but because of how these laws were implemented. i also understood that in most cases our filipino-muslim brothers and sisters were oppressed, similar with other lumads accross our country in so many other ways - political, economic, etc.

but like the philosophy of the people in the street, “kung ayaw mo sa ganitong sistema, umalis ka! pumunta ka sa ibang bansa!” 

i knew, of course, that this won’t apply always. but it gives us a good point. we can’t just twist the laws just to accommodate the desires of few people. but it doesn’t also give us the license to oppress them.

a BBC conducted a survey in Iraq during the envasion of the allied force. it asked the constituents of what country they hated most and to what country they prefer to live abroad. eigthy-four percent (84%) of the respondents answered USA as the most hated country but 81.0% responded USA as their country of interest when they live abroad.

we may wonder why they didn’t opt for arab nations. it would be safe, therefore, to conclude that they hated america for it causes them suffering when it envaded baghdad, iraq but they like to live in america because democracy is fully practice there. nobody bars you from exercising your religious and customary practices there, as long as it doesn’t put harm to other people.

one of the solution to end arm-struggle in mindanao and in the country, as a whole, is to put in full practice the democracy we claim to have; to respect the rights of every filipino, whether from what tribe you belong. giving every indigenous people and its decendants an autonomy to govern themselves will lead to division and by division, we all know, we could not attain peace and prosperity.

the strongest trait of filipinos is its being composed of various cultures. that being different in cultures bonded together as one nation in enjoyment of democracy is a strongest weapon or foundation to rise above in the world. we may be living in different islands but we still are one - one filipino and one philippines.

villa paraiso in a fiery camiguin

Villa Paraiso Resort and Apartelle is a new haven in the island province of camiguin. it is nestled right in the heart of the island capital of mambajao. it is a few kilometers away to tourist spots and attractions and a few minutes ride to the commercial center.

erected on a hillside, the resort offers its guest a taste of nature. it also housed a swimming pool for those who like to splash themselves before going to the white island. what i enjoyed most in this resort was the nice feel of taking a dip into the pool at night while a movie is being played on the wide screen adjacent to the pool. swimming guests are treated to a movie every night. if you have dvd movies you want to watch, you can bring a stock of it when you come to the resort. 

the resort offers a reasonable price compared to other resorts located directly in-front of the white island. white island actually is a 10-minute ride from the main island of camiguin. you can take a van, multicab or tricycle, if you are in a budget,  from villa paraiso to the pier for the white island.

its a good thing that the resort is located right in the commercial center of camiguin for its accessible to look for nice and cheap restaurants which offer sumptuous seafood. banks also are located nearby. you can actually just take a  hike down to the commercial area.

you can enjoy camiguin without spending so much by staying at villa paraiso resort and apartelle. 

had the 1st gold even before the olympic game starts

umalis ako ng biernes. iniwan ko ang syudad ng mga bulaklak o gintong ngiti noong nagdaang linggo. sa gabing iyon ay ang pagbubukas ng 2008 olympics - ang tagisan ng mga atleta na nanggagaling sa iba’t-ibang bahagi o sulok ng mundo. baon ko noon ang pag-asang makuha ang aking minimithi.

bago pa man nagsimula ang unang laro sa olympics sa tsina, ay nakuha ko na ang gintong tagumpay na aking hinahangad sa pag-alis kong iyon. sobrang masaya na naman ako ngayon. naninibago ako sa aking nararamdaman. ganito pala kasaya yong magsimula ka muli ng bagong buhay.

ayaw ko ng balikan ang dating kung buhay pero hindi ibig sabihin nito na hindi ako marunong lumingon sa aking pinanggalingan. ang ibig ko lang ipahiwatid ay hindi ko gustong kalimutan ang mga aral na aking natutunan sa mga nakalipas na panahon o sa nakalipas kong buhay. baon-baon ko po ito ngayon at alam ko na isa na akong matatag na tao na kayang harapin ang kinabukasan.

parang olympics din, ang buhay ko ay may marami pang medalya na makakamit dahil sa pagkakataong ito ay kasama ko na muli ang taong nagbigay sa akin noon ng direksyon sa buhay. mas masigasig ako ngayon sapagkat ibang landas na ang aming tinatahak. landas na alam namin makakabuti sa aming kinabukasan. ito na rin dahil sa patnubay nang poong maybigay.

para sa isang tao na minahal ko noon, minamahal ko ngayon at patuloy na mamahalin sa darating na mga bukas, gusto kong sabihin sa iyo na ikaw ang gintong medalya na nakamit ko. maraming salamat sa iyong pagtitiwala sa akin ulit.