Belen Making Contest in Naga City, CamSur

Baby Jesus.

The Holy Family and the Three Magi.

The Holy Family (Belen) made of San Miguel Beer caps.

Christmas is in the air in CAMSUR!

Eco-friendly Belen making contest sponsored by San Miguel Beer in Naga City, CAMSUR

One the best belen entry. Naga City, Camsur.

See how the San Miguel Beer caps are used to design Christmas Belen in Camsur.

Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito: size does not matter

WBC Super Welterweight Title
Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito
Dallas Cowboy Stadium (Texas)
Sunday, Nov. 13, 2010 (US time)Picture from www.dailymail.co.uk

Manny Pacquiao, smaller and 17 pounds lighter, did not just beat Antonio Margarito --he dominated him round after round--bagging the vacant WBC Super Welterweight belt, his 8th title.In fact, Magraito has advantages of 17 pounds, 4½ inches in height and 6½ inches of reach.

Quick and powerful Pacquiao won 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110 on all the scorecards.

Modernizing Mindoro’s Infrastructure :The Hanging Bridge of Sitio Puting Bato

The Mangyan community living in Puting Bato, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro live in a very beautiful but severe piece of land.  Puting Bato (White Rock) was named by the Mangyans because of the white rock that serves as a landmark on the riverbanks.

The Mangyans have been living in this area for generations, it is a part of their lore and culture.

To this day, some Mangyans live a short distance from the banks of the Aglubang River. During the rainy season, it becomes a raging river and cannot be crossed on foot during the wet months. This makes it very hard for the Mangyans to go to the lowlands to trade their root crops or seek medical attention.

In the past the Mangyans resorted to traditional solutions to cross the raging rivers that stand between them and the lowland towns.  They use small boats called bangkas to cross the narrower parts of the river.  Where possible, they have also built simple suspension bridges called rambyaw, made of bamboo, rattan slats and ropes made of vines.

The indigenous rambyaw is an enduring legacy of man’s ingenuity. Its construction is part of the Mangyan’s collective consciousness, this knowledge survives to this day. Unfortunately the organic materials used decay in time and the structural integrity of the rambyaw is compromised.

Furthermore during the typhoon season, strong winds and rain make river crossings very dangerous and extremely difficult.

A decade of keeping travelers safe
In the spirit of partnership with the Mangyan people, Mindoro Nickel stepped in to construct a hanging bridge traversing the Aglubang River and they continue to maintain it to this day.

Built in 2000, the hanging bridge has durable steel cables, steel matting as its flooring and solid steel beams cemented into the mountainside to anchor the whole structure.
Now raised 10 meters from the river, this vertical clearance provides adequate distance and an element of safety for travelers. It is sturdy enough that elderly Mangyans who were reluctant to use the old rambyaw, now regularly use the bridge to cross the Aglubang river with confidence. The refurbished hanging bridge has also enabled Mangyans to transport farm animals including carabaos from either end.  

This bridge was built in partnership with the Mangyans, who contributed the indigenous materials such as gravel and sand as well as the labor force. 

The bridge is a testament to the enduring commitment of Mindoro Nickel to the Mangyans and the people of Mindoro. This work of modern engineering is sturdily built, fastidiously maintained and is a symbol of Mindoro Nickel’s willingness to share technology, resources, manpower and expertise with the Mangyavns to ensure their safety when they travel to the lowlands.
Brand new steel matting replaced
the bridge’s worn flooring

The Mangyan way of life is shaped by their interactions with the mountains, trees and other features of the landscape such that a prominent mound of white rock eventually becomes part of their tribal lore.

Being nomadic and a people fond of telling stories, their life and stories have been enriched by the rambyaw built for them by Mindoro Nickel Project.  The hanging bridge is a modern addition to their psyche, albeit an enduring one and definitely a part of the Mangyans’ heritage and living history.
This U-bolt with nut and washer secures the cables in place


‘This bridge is a really big help to us, the bridge we built was made of bamboo and vines so it wasn’t sturdy. When the wind and the rain are strong we have a very hard time crossing.
We have benefited a lot from this bridge, all of us Mangyans have been helped by this bridge, some of us come from Buraboy, others from Aglubang. Whenever the river is flooded we pass here. All of us Mangyans depend on this bridge.’


Testimonial by Imelda Marinduque, Mangyan resident.

Republished with permission from Mindoro Nickel Intex Resources http://www.intexresources.com.ph/mindoronickel/

Sonny Calamita: The Panday of Sto. Niño

For Filipinos the word panday (Filipino for blacksmith) evokes thoughts of a hero larger than life thanks to the Carlos J. Caparas comic book character immortalized in the silver screen by the late Fernando Poe Jr.   But what is a panday?  And what does it take to be one?

At its very essence a panday is a craftsman who works with metal.  The “black” in blacksmith comes from the black metal which they use to make different things and smith is derived from the word “smite” which means to hit.  Blacksmiths were essential to village life in the olden days but today the purpose they serve has been replaced by hardware stores which have all the tools and implements we will ever need.

Blacksmithing is a dying profession as urbanization spreads outward to the provincial and rural areas.  Progress comes in the form of malls or department stores that carry a wide array of very affordable items from all over the globe.

But in a remote agriculture-based barangay like Sto. Niño – located in the municipality of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro – the Mangyan community there still needs a panday. 

Sonny Calamita is in his early thirties.  He is a soft spoken man who is economical with his words, but when he does speak he is insightful and always diplomatic.  His father Onyo is a well-known Mangyan  elder with the equivalent “rank” of a Mayor.

From his father, Sonny inherited his affable demeanor.  Sonny is uneducated and can neither read nor write.  He has 6 children, the youngest being a newborn while the eldest is in her late teens who has given him a granddaughter.

He is a rice farmer by profession and also plants root crops to supplement his income.  He is your average Mangyan save for one thing: he successfully completed a training workshop on blacksmithing.  By itself, this was hardly earthshaking but taking into account the Mangyans’ traditional way of eking a living, this was most extraordinary.  Nomadic and traditionally dependent on hunting, blacksmithing to and for the Mangyans was a literally a craft above the rest.

Going by the age-old adage of “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach him how to fish and you feed him forever” – Mindoro Nickel undertook the blacksmithing workshop as part of its continuing livelihood and capacity-building programs to uplift the lives of Mindoreños.

This was in December of 2009 when Sonny signed up to be part of a select group of Mangyans who were trained as blacksmiths.  Today, Sonny is the local panday of his community in Barangay Pag-asa in the municipality of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.  He and his group have since been serving the needs of the Mangyan community and more importantly, they have recently taken in apprentices to share the knowledge that they have gained.

In today’s highly industrialized environment, blacksmithing may seem insignificant.  However, in Sonny’s world, it is probably the most wonderful thing to have happened, for through his blacksmithing skills, Mangyans will have harrows and agricultural implements to farm, knives for crafting, weapons for hunting.  In short, everything the Mangyans would need to eke out a decent living.

Blogged with permission from http://www.intexresources.com.ph/mindoronickel/ .

Can one man make a difference?

In recent years, “climate change” has become a hot topic on everyone’s lips.  On the one hand, there are the environmentalists who strongly believe in the immediacy of climate change although there is no unanimity on how to move forward.  Then there are public officials who project themselves as protectors of the environment by espousing – at every possible opportunity – legislation in defense of the environment.

Even today’s young are exposed to the importance of environmental protection as early as grade school where they are taught the rudiments of waste disposal segregation – “blue” cans for recyclable waste, “green” for biodegradable waste and “red” for non-biodegradables.

There is no debate, however, that human activity is the causal reason for “climate change” – whether it is from fossil fuel combustion, from the use of aerosols, from methane emissions originating from waste or from the depletion of forest cover with its conversion for urban needs. And there is consensus that everyone needs to chip in.

But can one man make a difference? He could if his name is Maximo Cabri. And who is Maximo Cabri?

Maximo Cabri is a Mangyan, a group of Indigenous People who have their roots in the island of Mindoro.  He is a respected Mangyan elder, being the chairman of the Alangan Mangyan Cooperative. He’s 56 years old and a father of seven.

Maximo has a man-sized job cut out for him.  He is charged with maintaining a whole mountainside with approximately 11 hectares of the Alangan Mangyans’ ancestral land.  Together with his fellow Alangan Mangyans, he is reforesting their ancestral land so that it can continue providing for their needs.

Fortunately, Maximo had help. During the celebration of Earth Day in June of 2008, the Department of Natural Resources joined hands with the Philippine Army, the local officials of San Agustin and Pag-asa (both being barangays in the Municipality of Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro) and some high school students.  Working in solidarity, this group of civic-minded Filipinos literally planted the first seeds for the reforestation of the Alangan Mangyans’ ancestral mountain lands.

This first attempt at reforesting their ancestral lands consisted of an initial 3,000 seedlings over the 1-½ hectares. Since then, Maximo – together with his friends, family and members of the cooperative – have successfully planted over the rest of the 11 hectares. This 11-hectare plot of land has been reforested with indigenous species such as Falcatta, Acacia Mangium, Narra, Gmelina and Cashew seedlings at around 2,500 seedlings for every 1-½ hectares.

This dry season was particularly challenging in terms of fire prevention as there were some close calls.  As a contingency he scattered some make shift wells around the mountainside, filling 2-3 foot pits with water so that he could put out small fires before they get out of control.  He also has a couple of huts overlooking the land and he is accompanied by his children as he goes about his work.

Maximo is shy and seems without guile and such an unassuming man, who in his own quiet way is offsetting more than his share of carbon footprint.   One does not really need to understand or even agree with the science behind climate change and its human impact to realize that it does not hurt to act and minimize individual consumption. Maximo’s acts are personal.  Yet their impact goes far beyond his ancestral lands, maybe even global. Maximo Cabri can and does make a difference and together with other like-minded souls, their cumulative efforts will ensure that this planet becomes a little bit more habitable for its 6.8 billion denizens.

Blogged with permission from http://www.intexresources.com.ph/mindoronickel/.

What to do to kill boredome in Boracay

For my four days now in Bora, boredome hasn't struck me yet. Strolling on the beach with a special someone, from station 1 to station 3 is fascinating. I usually have leg pains at night, but last night after the long walk, pains forgot to attack me.

But for those who want to brave the waters of Boracay there are plenty of water activities to do. Island tour commencing at 10 am and ends before 5pm costs php 500 to 600 per person. It already includes buffet lunch and unlimited snacks. Snorkeling at the coral garden is included on the package. Glass bottom boating is also a good choice which costs php 700 per person, snacks included. Helmet diving for the more adventurous yet aren't prepared for a scuba dive, costs php 700.

Jet ski, para-sailing, speed boating, banana boating --various choices of water sports and activities. But for those who just like to walk on the long stretch of white beach, you can savour the moment with a hair braid which costs php 200 to 300; or henna tattoo which costs php 100 up.

Just let me remind you that costs for these activities, just like that of the resort accommodations varies in season. January is considered a peak season, but there is what they call the super peak which is the summer time. So expect the price to double if you come here in March.

You can also shop around for souvenirs --anklets and bracelets starts at php 10, earings made of shells at php 30 up. There is also a foot bikini for php 50.