* Want to travel the Southeast Asian seas? The BSU Blog has the details on how you can apply to the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP). Application ends 11 April 08, so you still have time to prepare whatever requirements they will ask from you.
* Know more about the betrothal practice in Kalinga by visiting The Mountains of Kalinga blog.
* The Baguio City 2008 Yearbook is out according to Jack Cariño. Among others, the yearbook features the Ibaloi beauty queen, Chainus Guirrey. More at Chi from the Cool Clouds.
* Rex Pe blogs about myths regarding Igorots and presents the facts to debunk said myths. Read it here.
* Maurice has interesting reads on our culture of uprightness and honesty and our view on heavenly bodies.
* Remember the song that goes, “Small circle, small circle, big circle” which you sing while drawing circles? Page 101 has a post about it here. Join our discussion :-)
* Padma has a must read piece on the music of our lives a.k.a indigenous music. I was planning to steal it but I think it’s best if you read it at the PCIJ website.
A little over one in four (28%) families in the Cordillera are poor according to the National Statistics Development Board. The number increased from 25.8% in 2003.
So which province has the most number of poor people? Abra with a registered 22,484 poor families. The figures for the other provinces are as follows: Kalinga - 16,113; Mountain Province - 14,254; Apayao - 12,928; Ifugao - 11,082; and Benguet - 10,990.
Meanwhile, Apayao and Abra are included in country’s list of 10 poorest provinces in terms of poverty incidence. Poverty incidence in Apayao is recorded at 78.5% while in Abra the poverty incidence rate is at 50.1% .
* If setting up sidewalk cafes along Session Road will make Baguio a more livable city, then we should be all for it, right? They should do something about vehicle traffic though. I’m not sure you’d want to go sidewalk-cafe-drinking if you’ll end up ingesting all those gas exhaust. [Sunstar]
* Seems like the question of whether or not Tabuk City and the other cities created last year are qualified to become a city is going all the way to the Supreme Court. [Inquirer]
* Ibaloi families displaced from Binga and Ambuklao renew claims against the National Power Corporation. [Inquirer]
* The peace and order situation in Abra is improving according to Governor Eustaquio Bersamin. [Bulletin]
* Lisa has a must read on how future Panagbenga celebrations can be improved. [Baguio Insider]
* Benguet board member proposes the creation of an OFW desk in all Benguet municipalities. [Sunstar]
* In observance of Women’s Month, the Digital Chain has some facts about women. Like, if Barbie is real she’d be walking on all fours. [Digital Chain]
* I suppose this is investigative journalism? I admire PCIJ but that post was quite underwhelming. Like it’s news that we fight the cold by “wearing several layers of clothes”? In fairness, the pictures look great. [PCIJ]
* A tragic accident cost the life of Canadian Otto Unsinn who fell down when walking en route to his wife’s village in Balbalan, Kalinga. [Voice of Kalinga]
* Pukengkeng has a “haynaku” poem about homecomings which you should read. [PLF]
* Belated happy women’s day especially to Lovelyn who explains what Italians mean when they say “Peste le donne”. [Raconteur]
* Does your pastor love your money more than your soul? This man believes that they do. [W Todcor]
* Gerry Alanguilan has a post on an Ifugao story serialized in Hiwaga komiks back in the 1950s. Read it here. [Komikero]
* A kidnapping attempt in Baguio fails when the would-be victim, a seven year old boy, outsmarts his abductors. [Sunstar]
* Suspect in the 2007 murder of a four year old girl in Lubo, Kibungan is arrested by police authorities. [Sunstar]
* Regarding the caretaker nonsense we blogged about earlier, here’s a quote attributed to an unnamed businessman: “Domogan, Agyao karuprupa da Dominguez”. Rough translation: They are all alike. [Nordis Blog]
* The towns of Alfonso Lista, Mayaoyao, Aguinaldo, Lamut and Lagawe all in Ifugao might have their power cut off despite the fact that the province generates electricity for the rest of the country. [Philippine Star]
* A quote from Ifugao Governor Teddy Baguilat in relation to the news above: “It is ironic that (Ifugao hosts) one of the biggest hydroelectric plants in the region, yet we don’t get electricity from Magat. We have to tap (our electricity) from Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya which makes (the cost of) our electricity higher, yet the water comes from us.” [Philippine Star]
* The Northern Dispatch reports that nursing schools in the Cordilleras have a better passing rate than their counterparts in the Ilocos. [Nordis]
* Is there racism in the call center industry? Yup. What about in English language teaching jobs? Yup. In Philippine society? Yup. [Call of Nature]
* It’s the year of the rat but sometimes we should scare the rats away especially if they are destroying our rice plants and our rice terraces. Join the “Tagtag id Asipulo” scheduled this coming April. [sitmo via bessmaat]
* Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya law students join their nationwide peers in calling for GMA to resign. [Nueva Vizcaya and Beyond]
* Hannah Sue Eming of Apayao State University is crowned as the “Miss Solid North 2008″ besting 13 other candidates from the “solid north”. Unfortunately, we don’t have any picture of her. [Pangasinan Star]
* Hey internet addicts, you should go check out this new Benguet website. [Benguet Online]
* Merrychery is a young doctor who is serving our kailiyans in the Ilocos-Cordillera boundary. You can read her posts here, here and here. Because her term will be ending in seven months, let’s give her some blog traffic as our way of saying thanks. Mag comment na rin tayo sa blog niya :-)
In our first blog, we did some write-ups on the search keywords of visitors who found us via search engines. In case you missed them, here’s the links to said posts: Part I and Part II. Now, here’s the third installment of our attempt to elaborate on the keywords/questions of blog visitors.
1. “What is bubod”: Bubod is the yeast that you add to the sticky rice to produce rice wine. Kumbaga, it is the fermenting agent. I think it’s made from sugarcane but I’m not 100% sure. Do you also call this fermenting agent “bubod” in your language?
2. “Most richest man in Benguet”: I’ve no idea. Maybe Nashman, Lovelyn, Page 101, and FBI know the answer. Sino sa tingin ninyo ang pinakamayaman sa Benguet? If by “richest” we mean both rich in terms of material wealth and good reputation, maybe Congressman Dangwa?
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