Miss World Denmark is half-Boholana
With three Filipina beauties – Philippine bet Gwen Ruais, former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Fil-Canadian Riza Santos for Canada, and Fil-Danish Maya Celeste Padillo Olesen representing Denmark – vying for this year’s Miss World title come November 6th in London, Filipinos all over are bursting with pride.
We, Bol-anon’s, on the other hand, have something to be doubly proud of. One of the three Pinay Miss World hopefuls, Miss World Denmark 2011 Maya Celeste Padillo Olesen, is not only half-Pinay – she is half-Boholana.
Today is Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Day
The late Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, the 8th President of the Philippines, is without a doubt Bohol’s most illustrious son.
R.A. 7448, in April of 1992, declared the 4th of November each year to be a special non-working holiday in the whole of Boholandia to commemorate the anniversary of the late Pres. Carlos P. Garcia. But with close inspection to the law, it didn’t in fact name November 4 as Carlos P. Garcia Day, only that it a special non-working holiday. It did however ‘designate’ Nov. 2-6 as Carlos P. Garcia Week.
But of course by all intents and purpose, today is Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Day.
The world called, they answered
And now, they’re in Bohol.
Serving for almost a year now with their host organizations in Bohol, Peace Corp Volunteers (PCV) Jessica Miguel, Kate Jaffe, Kristin Kuhn, Todd Massari and Abby Samuelson are not the usual Amerikana/Amerikano you see around town.
They’re the real deal, here to share their skills and knowledge with their host institutions and communities for a two-year volunteer program. The Peace Corps, run by the government of the United States of America, deploys volunteers all over the world with three main goals, one, to provide technical assistance (for social and economic development at the grassroots level of their host countries), two, to help people outside the United States understand U.S. culture, and, three, to help Americans understand the cultures of other countries.
Photos: Baji Arts Exhibit Opening
In the eve of the International Women’s Day, Baji: An All-Boholana Arts Exhibit opened its doors to the Bol-anon public – unveiling the diversity of the response and creating an exuberant narrative of the baji’ng Bol-anon in words, pictures and pixels – 40 artists and over 80 artworks.
Hon. Godofreda O. Tirol, Board Member, 3rd District of Bohol and Hermogena “Nene” Lungay opened the exhibit. (full exhibit review on Monday, after it comes out in the LifestyleBohol this Sunday.)
Arts Exhibit: Mugnang Bol-anon
In celebration of the National Arts Month, Bol-anon visual artists are staging a group exhibit aptly titled: Mugnang Bol-anon (Bohol-Made) at the Lion Club’s Oak Brook Museum and Children’s Library in Tagbilaran City.
The exhibit formally opened 5pm, February 16 and will run through the whole arts month. Governor Edgar Chatto, Vice-Governor Conching Lim, and Center for Culture and Arts Development (CCAD) head Mdm. Equit Butalid, led the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon, alongside Bohol Tourism Council Chair Atty. Doy Nunag, and Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage (BACH Council). Several Lions Club members and arts enthusiasts also showed up to support the event.
Ocho-ocho fare starts today
We pay P1 more in jeepney/multicab/tricycle fares today.
This, after the provisional fare hike of P1 in the minimum jeepney fare was approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Monday, and after a slew of similar increases in fares in MRT and LRT, as well as toll fees in Metro Manila. It is no surprise, President NoyNoy Aquino is being named “the fare hike president”.
Fare increases on public transport are never welcomed by public commuters. I have a personal grudge against tricycle drivers in Tagbilaran City, especially. (And don’t even mention taxi drivers.) Don’t get me wrong, I love Tagbilaran tricycles and the biblical sayings in their tooshies. But those rickety three-wheeler drivers bottlenecking the entrances of BQ Mall, ICM, UB, etc. and charging unsuspecting passengers with absurdly exorbitant fares? It’s so easy to detest them to pieces.
In Calunasan: “the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down, is weaving when it comes up in the morning*”
It is about four o’clock on a fine Friday afternoon. Rippling gently with the soft breeze, is a huge rainbow-colored umbrella canopy that stands rather prominently in the middle of the fairgrounds semi-encircled by small nipa sheds cum exhibition kiosks, proudly displaying local hand-woven crafts of varying designs and sizes. Bags, placemats, baskets, trinkets and what-not’s made out of bamboo, buri and nito.
At one kiosk, three women are busy weaving pieces of nito and bamboo strips into what would become placemats and baskets. Rhythmic folk music played by a local kumparsa (string ensemble)wafts in the air, conflating with the buzz of excitement and anticipation from a good mix of crowd ranging from pre-schoolers dressed in Filipiniana to teeners to the leather-skinned community elders. Calunasan Norte is more than ready to receive its guests.
Prologue
