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Let’s give kudos to whoever thought of introducing silkworm farming in Kapangan. It seems like its going to be a success. Photo credit: John Javellana/Reuters.

Silkworms give Philippine farming town a makeover
By Manny Mogato/Reuters
KAPANGAN – Hundreds of white mulberry trees have started to cover mountain slopes deep in the northern Philippines’ Cordillera region, changing not just the landscape but also making over the image of a poor farming town.

Up until the early 2000s, the upland villages of Kapangan, a vegetable growing town of 18,000 people in Benguet province, was widely known as one of the country’s largest cultivation areas of an illegal plant — marijuana.

“We’ve started something to erase that tag,” Roberto Canuto, a public attorney in the province who was elected mayor in 2007, told Reuters. “We’re determined to be known as something else, perhaps, the silk capital of the country.”
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Bayyo. Bontoc. Mt. Province. Photo: Gloria Tuazon.

What do you do during Easter? I used to attend an ecumenical Easter sunrise service but my lazy bones are cranky and are not willing to be hauled early in the morning to attend the service held in the other edge of town. But I should be going to church to fellowship with other Igorots in the city. Happy Easter to all of us. Have fun hunting those Easter eggs. Thanks for all your support.

We got to give props to Baguio Senior Fire Officer John Ullibac who wore his bahag and played the role of a disaster victim during this disaster consciousness training held last year. We give props too to Paeng Valencia who is “rescuing” Officer Ullibac because he looks much smaller than the “victim” and yet he was able to do his job. By the way, the officer must be the happiest “victim” ever. But then again, you should be happy when you are rescued from a burning building. :-)

You can find more photos of this event at Baguiogallery.com. Photo courtesy of Art Tibaldo.

PHOTO CREDIT: alsmarine.com.ph

Orange skyland. February 2008. Barangay Asin in Tuba, Benguet. Photo courtesy of my once favorite newspaper.

According to my good friend Gina, orange (the color not the Nueva Vizcaya fruit) has a calming effect. I’m not sure about that but maybe she’s right. Maybe this is the reason why God in his wisdom usually paints our sky orange. Maybe it’s his way of telling us, “Calm down, you silly people. Calm down.”

Anyways, it’s the middle of the week where I sit so I’m looking at this picture to calm myself down.

P.S. Sabi pala ni Gina, isang rason daw kung bakit orange ang kulay ng mga damit ng mga Ananda Marga at ng mga Buddhist monks ay dahil sa natatanging “calming effect” ng nasabing kulay na ito.

Of course this blog is not all about bootlickers, chicken wings, and community activism. We are also about artistas. So let’s do a post on our favorite artista, Marky Cielo. Here are six things you might not know about him.

1. Did you know that he was (is?) the Department of Health’s Youth Ambassador Against Tobacco? That’s him and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III shaking hands. Photo courtesy of the DOH website.

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Senator Loren Legarda tries to do an Igorot dance during a visit to a conference organized by Cordillera women leaders last year. Inviting Loren is a good move by said women leaders because the Senator may well become the next President of the country. She continues to perform well in presidential polls conducted by survey outfits. However, a lot of things can happen between now and 2010 so she should not count the eggs before they’re laid.

Will she make a good President? Who knows? She doesn’t strike me as someone who could change this country. Her presidency might feature people different from the current ones but it will be the politics of “same old, same old”. This is true for other politicians who have presidential ambitions, i.e., Senator Manuel Roxas II, Senate President Manny Villar, and Vice President Noli de Castro.

By the way, the group which invited Senator Legarda reportedly adopted her and named her “Tokwifi” which means “bright star” in Finontok. What do you think of that? Personally, I hope we stop using our native names/culture/etc as currency to pander to politicians. But that’s just me :-)

INFO/PHOTO SOURCE: senate.gov.ph