Davao Music Nation Launches Website

To celebrate Davao's widely music culture and showcase the inherent talent of its home grown musicians, the Davao music community is launching a a website to increase awarness and support for Davao music culture and Davao musicians.

Davao Music Nation (DMN) is an internet magazine created bu the Davao Music community for the fans and for anyone looking for good music.

"We have all this talent in Davao City and most of us who live here aren't even aware that they exist," says entrepreneur and website co-founder, Jessica Madrazo."There  is actually more to Davao than just show bands and ethnic music. We have reggae, hip hop, metal, folk, acoustic, jazz and many more. We have tons of great original music just waiting for an audience. And we have lots of great music places that could rival any bar or club in the country!"

In addition to being an online resource for Davao music talents, Jessica Madrazo sees the website as a means to a bigger goal. 

Jessica says: "By showing fellow Filipinos and the world how great Davao music is, we're giving them more reasons to come and stay in Davao. We see this website as the first big step in strengthening the Davao music community so it can eventually a mark in the local and music market. DMN is simply the avenue to help musicians make their music more accessible to the public without changing their identity."

I really wish to support this great idea too.

Check out more here: http://www.DavaoMusicNation.com

The Durian Legend

A long time ago there lived an ugly, old but powerful king named Barom-Mai in Calinan near Davao City. He married the young and beautiful Madayaw-Bayho, a daughter of Tageb, king of the sea pirates who ruled the islands of Ligid, Talicud and Samal. But Madayaw-Bayho did not love the king: so she often ran away from his kingdom. But her father always returned her to the king. One day, she ran away, and vowed never to return to the king. Because of this King Barom-Mai told his advisers, headed by Matigam, to find a way to make his wife love him.

When the king met the hermit, the hermit said to him to get three things: the egg of the black tabon, twelve ladies of white carabao's milk, and the nectar from the flower of the tree-of-make believe, because the egg would soften the heart of the princess, the milk would make her kind and the nectar would make her see the king as young and handsome. 

Pawikan, king of the sea turtles, helped him secure the tabon's egg. The king also easily got the milk. He procured the flower with the help of Hangin-Bai, a wood nymph. He gave the three things to the hermit who mixed the nectar, the milk and the egg together and told him to plant it. It grew into a durian tree!

He brought the fruit to his wife who ate it. After eating, she fell in love with the king who looked young and handsome. They returned to their kingdom and feasted. they forgot to invite the hermit who said angrily that the delicious fruit with offensive odor be covered with thorns. Since then the durian fruit is thorny but delicious.

Davao first to Receive Fishery Patrol Boats

Among the regions in Mindanao, the Davao Region is the first to receive their share of patrol boats given by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) to municipal governments.

BFAR Regional Director Fatma Idris gladly notes that Region XI is one of the five regions nationwide, and the only one in Mindanao given such facility to strengthen community-based coastal resources management.

Region XI gets six of such patrol boats which cost 1.2 million PHP each. These are given to the municipalities of Tarragona and Lupon in Davao Oriental, Maco and Pantukan in Compostela Valley, Tagum City in Davao del Norte, and in Digos City, Davao del Sur.

Each patrol boat has -not only - a boat cradle through which it can be tugged inland and be kept in a safehouse. It is also equipped with global positioning system, telescope, compass, life jackets, enabling Bantay-Dagat volunteers to go after illegal marine resource poachers.

 

Building "Noah's Ark"

It was February, still months away from the rainy-season downpurs that can blanket Metro Manila with deadly floods, but in Barangay Tumana, Marikina City, the townfolk were busy evacuating their riverside homes as if their lives depended on it.

Carrying some clothes, beddings and important documents, about 350 people - including men, women and children - left their homes in an orderly fashion, boarded trucks and moved to the H. Bautista Elementary School in nearby Barangay Concepcion which had been identified as a safe haven in times of floods.

While there, the "evacuees" were brought to pre-assigned rooms and attended to by various barangay committees. For example, nursing mothers and pregnant women were brought to "lactating rooms" while the others were served piping-hot "lugaw".

All this was just a drill, but barangay officials and the residents took it seriously.

"People here remember Ondoy. They had a terrible time then and they want to be better prepared the next time around," said Hilda Tabar-Cleofe, executive director of the Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CNDR), which is helping the flood-prone barangays ofmarikina prepare for future calamities under a program appropriately named "Noah's Ark".

"We are focusing on community preparedness, particulary for those areas that are frequently hit by calamities like floods," said Mon Isberto, public affairs head of Smart Communications which funded the drill.

"The idea is to develop a model that can be replicated in other communities with local governments and private companies working together,"added Isberto, who is also president of CNDR.

This model for community preparedness has already been tested in real emergencies. 

In 2010, Noah's Ark was piloted in Barangay Malanday, Marikina City with funding from Ayala Foundation. The effectiveness of the Malanday contingency plan in achieving "zero casualty" was tested - and proven! - during typhoons Falcon and Pedring in October 2011. 

For 2012, the plan is to bring Noah's Ark to four other high-risk communities, namely  Baranagay Bayanan in Muntinlupa City, Barangay Macasandig in Cagayan de oro, Barangay Banago or Mandalaganin Bacolod City, and another barangay in Iligan City.

These efforts are being supported by various corporate partners. Habitat for Humanity Philippines joined Ayala Foundation in supporting the program for example... .

CNN's Eye on The Philippines

 

Since yesterday till May 4, 2012  "Eye on The Philippines" features daily reports with Anna Coren from Manila, Batangas and Lake Taal and in-depth reportage from Kyung Lah, providing insight into this tropical country's people, politics, business and culture.

The special week of coverage culminates with a half-hour program featuring highlights from the week, airing from May 4 to May 6, 2012.

As an expatriate and journalist living in the Philippines, I am hoping that this will turn into positive things that the world has been creating negative look to the Philippines.

Ara Mina, Christine Reyes and Heidi Gatmaytan

(Ara Mina and Christine Reyes)

 A relative of celebrities Ara Mina and Christine Reyes is appealing to the public to give them time to settle their differences following their much-publicized rift. 

In an official statement Heidi Gatmaytan, sister of Reyes and Mina, said their family is deeply saddened by the turn of events. 

"This has gained so much publicity to the damage of the family. Let us give them time to talk and settle their differences. We understand that both of them are hurting right now. We appeal to everyone to give them space so these matters can be cleared up and let the family patch things up. They are both generous and supportive to the whole family contrary to what is being reported by some sectors. We just hope that people would be fair."