Mayha, Odiongan, Romblon

NUTRITION MONTH CELEBRATION

July 14, 2010, 8:00 o’clock in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, Mayha National High School observed the Nutrition Month Celebration with the theme: “Sa Pagkaing tama at sapat, wastong timbang ni Baby ang katapat” sponsored by the Homemakers Club. It was a whole day activity. It was started in the morning with an informal opening with the invocation given by Mrs. Erma F. Fabito, opening of activities by Mrs. Zayra F. Andal, School Principal I, followed by the presentation of activities, criteria and judges by the Homemakers  Club adviser.

The morning activities include Agro Fair, Cookfest, Poster and Slogan Making Contest and Parlor Games each with mini prizes allotted. The Agro Fair was participated in by all the ten sections, therefore 10 booths were established and were displayed with different products such as fruits, vegetables, coconuts, and some live poultry products like chicken and turkey.

The Cookfest was likewise participated by the same number of sections and with four categories such as; Vegetable Dish, Protein Dish, Dessert, and Beverage.  Also Poster and Slogan making were done at the same time with individual student participants. While the judges were busy judging the recipes by each class, the Parlor game in-charge facilitated the games entitled Hep hep Hurray!, Calamansi Relay, and Message Relay. Students learned the value of cooking and product selling. They also enjoyed a lot.  All the contest categories and judging ended at 11:30.

During the morning activities, Hon. Alykhan “Bon2” Fernanadez, Hon. Ramer  M. Ramos, Hon. Mabini  Felia, Mrs. Leizl Yasul, Mrs. Lara F. Gocela, Mrs. Pinky R. Siason  and three Barangay Kagawads were present and served as the judges.

In the afternoon, The Mayha Community together with Elementary and the Secondary School, had its 3^rd Joint Nutrition Month Celebration. The program started at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon. Hon. Mayor Baltazar Ll. Firmalo ,  Hon. Fidel Fontanoza, Hon. Mabini Felia, and the Barangay Mayha Kagawads were present. There were  20 mothers from the community who attended and served as the main audience of the afternoon activity with the four speakers from

Hon. Baltazar Ll. Firmalo

the Municipal Health Center who imparted to the minds of the mothers the importance of good nutrition on the health of their children especially the babies. They gave emphasis on good nutrition which should start in the womb of a mother therefore, a healthy mother produces a healthy baby.

After the session, we had our awarding of prizes to the winners of the different contests done in the morning

Prizes in the different contests were from Bgy. Mayha, and from the donors namely; Hon. Bon2 Fernandez, Hon. Ramer Ramos, Mr. Cruzaldo F. Fetalvero and the undersigned.

These whole day activities ended at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Hon. Baltazar Ll. Firmalo

OATH TAKING

AND

INAUGURATION

CEREMONY

by; Veronica M. Faigao

WHAT…. Oath Taking and Inauguration Ceremony

WHEN….. June 30, 2010 at 9’oclock in the morning

WHO…..The Elected Officials of the Municipality of Odiongan

WHERE….Infront of  Odiongan Municipal Hall, Odiongan, Romblon

Hon. Ramer M. Ramos and Family

NEGROS; Island Enigma

by: Veronica M. Faigao

Negros Arts and Culture

Negros Island was originally called “Buglas”, an old native word that is thought to mean “cut off”. It is believed that Negros was once part of a greater mass of Land but was cut off either by what geologist call a continental drift or by the rising waters during the so-called glacial age.

Among its earliest inhabitants were dark-skinned natives belonging to the Negrito ethnic group with their unique culture. Thus, the Spaniards called the land “Negros” after the black natives whom they saw when they first came to the island in April 1565. Two of the earliest native settlements were Binalbagan and Ilog that later became towns in 1573 and 1584, respectively. other settlements were Hinigaran, Bago, Marayo (now Ponteverda), Mamalan (now Himamaylan) and Candaguit (now a sitio in San Enrigue).

After appointing encomenderos in the island, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi placed Negros under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Oton in Panay. In 1734, however, the island became a military district and Ilog was made its first capital. The seat of government was later transferred to Himamaylan and thereafter Bacolod became the capital in 1849.

The island remained a military district up to about the middle of the 19^th century. Then in 1865, Negros Occidental was raised to the category of a politico-military province. During this time, several more towns were established like San Carlos and Calatrava.

Religious orders evangelized the province by turns: the Agustinians, Recollectos, Jesuits, Dominicans, Seculars and again, the Recollects returning in the 1800s.

About its folklore, The Maragtas epic, an imaginative nineteenth-century reworking of Panay folk memories, tells of the migration to the Philippines in AD 1250 of the Borneo datus (chiefs) Puti, Sumakwel, Bangkaya, Balakasusa, Paiburong, Dumangsil, Lubay, and Dumalogdog. They had led their followers there to escape the tyranny of the Srivijayan empire. The datus bought the coastal lands Panay from the indigenous (native) people with gold, pearls, and other ornaments (the native people moved inland). http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Norway-to-Russia/Hiligaynon.html#ixzz0q9eOwqlj)

Negros Occidental has long been a center of culture and arts, the wealth brought about by the sugar industry made sure that the Negrense principalia enjoyed the very best.

This blossoming in art was due to the economical importance of the area during the Spanish era, Negros became probably the most hispanized area and pro-spanish area, due to the enormous investments of Spain in the sugar business.

The Negrenses’ joie de vivre is manifested in the varios festivals all over the province, foremost among which are famous Masskara Festival of Bacolod, Pasalamat Festival of La Carlota, Bailes de Luces of La Castellana and Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos. These and other interesting local festivals are featured during the Pana-ad sa Negros Festival staged evry April at the 25-hectare tree-lined Panaad Stadium in BacolodCity.Dubbed as the “Festival of Festivals”, Panaad brings together the 13 cities and 19 towns in a showcase of history, arst and culture, tourism, trade, commerce and industry, beauty and talent as well as games and sports.

Bacolod the city’s name is derived from bakolod, the Hiligaynon word fro “stonehill”, since the settlement was found in 17170 on a stony, hilly area, now the district of granada and the former site of the Bacolod Murcia Milling Company.

Bacolod City is noted for being the home of the Negros Summer Workshops, founded by milti-award winning fil-maker and Negrense Peque Gallaga. Founded in 1919, Workshops has long been training students from different parts of the country who wish to learn courses in film-making, acting, writing, and more. Some of its alumni include actors in mainstream Phillipine show business. www.google.com

As to their religion, a pre-Christian belief system coexists with the Catholic one brought by the Spaniards. The two exert mutual influence on each other, as when the Santo Niño , the image of the Child Jesus as World Sovereign, is bathed to summon rain or attract good luck. The native beliefs divide the universe into three parts: the upperworld, midleworld, and lowerworld. The upperworld houses at its peak the udtohanon, which is God and his Favorite angels who will pass the final judgement but are otherwise remote from human affairs. Lower down in the upperworld reside the langitnon, angelic being who lived above the clouds. In the awan-awan (between the clouds and the earth but still in the upper-world) live the spirits of the wind, rain, thunder, lightning, typhoon, and whirlwinds; supreme among them is the tagurising who lives where the sun rises. The midlewprld (the earth) is the home to the dutan-on, spirits expelled from the upper-world for rebelling against God; they are identified according to where they first landed, for example, in tress, the river, or the seas. The underworld includes hell, infront of whose gate is a hollow pit where the engkanto, the malevolent (evil) spirits, live with their reptilian pets; the underworld regions are connected to the midleworld through a tunnel called the bungalog.

Each community has specialist who are able to communicate with spirits and heal diseases thought to be caused by spirits. They also recover lost objects, predict the future, and discover the causes of misfortunes. The most important of these spacialists is the babaylan, a medium whom a spirit has befriended and granted powers. To increase the power of his rituals, the babaylan often adds Latin prayers and Catholic sacred objects. http://www.everyculture.com/

The Bacolod City is not only famous with their festivals, but the city of smile was also renowned on its native delicacies. The piyaya is one of the top home made delicacies of the city, enriched with flour and brown sugar, coated with sesame seeds that really provide a sweet savor for the local and foreign tourists. The BongBong’s Piyaya and Barqillos is one of the best producer of this product that bacolod can also be proud of is the “Chicken Inasal”. The unique taste of chicken that being grilled in the stick which can be found in any streets of the city. Chicken House, Mang Inasal and the famed Manokan Country are the best place to stop to find this food product. www.insidenegros.com/negros-occidental/bacolod-city/

Learn more about Negros? Explore…there’s more.

by: Veronica M. Faigao

Negros Occidental

May 17, 2010 when I received a call from Iloilo City. I felt so happy and excited to hear that as Technology and Home Economics (TLE) teacher in our school, I would be one of the four teachers to answer the Campblog IC form application to qualify ourselves to this 10-day training here in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. I’m so lucky enough and thankful for I was given a chance to be one among the participants. To experience the clean, and beautiful places. And to enhanced my knowledge and skills in the use of computer and to learn about blogging.

In the morning of June 4, 2010, the Campblog IC participants and staff were excited for a tour in some cities of Negros Occidental. Riding in the bus we left the venue at 8:30 with the tour guide Mr. Ver Pacete. we started journeying the beautiful places of Talisay City to other cities. While on the tour, photography lesson with Mr. Jimmy Domingo were applied by each one of us in taking the memorabilia of the different panoramic views and the ancestral houses we visited.

On our way, I was able to relate to the historic past of the ancestral houses in Silay City. “Balay Negrese is among the 29 ancestral house in Silay that the National Historical Institute had declared as national treasures. The house of stone and wood which fuses Spanish Colonial and American period architecture stands on a foundation made from the trunk of the Balayong tree. The 12-bedroom structure designed and built by Don Victor Gaston are 1898 for his family is one of the largest colonial houses in the city.”

The HOFILENA HERITAGE HOUSE, according to the source “ circa 1934, is the first house in Silay City to become a tourist attraction; it was opened to the public 30 years before the next house did-likewise. Also the first house in the area, still inhabited, to be installed with by the National Historical Institute with a historical marker as a heritage house and national treasure for the present and future generations. It houses the Ramon Hofilena Art Collection (pictured) of more than 1,000 pieces. All its furniture are authentic period item. The first drive for preservation of vintage architecture, and the first successful art promotion in Silay both began in this house.”

Before we proceed to RUINS, we passed by MERCI’s pasalubong center there you find different delicacies which could please our palates. Everyone is happy and enjoying buying the pasalubong such as; piaya, other delights such as baye-baye, inday-inday, butong-butong, quinamusil,and sinambag, pacecia, lubid-lubid, and ugoy-ugoy, together with more familiar labels such as lumpia ubod, empanada, dulce gatas, pastellas de leche, banadas, broas,bizcocho, banana chips , etc. Then the group went back to the bus and went straight to the RUINS.

RUINS is an Italianate architecture with neo-Romannesque twin columns. The mansion was built after the death of Maria Braga and became Don Mariano’s residence with his unmarried children. The sturcture met its sad fate in the early part of the Wotld War II when USAFFE (United States Armed forces in the Far East), the guerilla fighters in the Philippines, burnt the mansion to prevent the Japanese forces from utilizing it as their headquarters. Here you can find The Fountain the 4-tiered fountain wasbuilt after the construction of the mansion was finished. Angelina, one of the daughters, maintained a beautiful lily garden in and around the fountain. The Simborio the local name for smokestack or chimney, was the vent used for muscovado mill of the sugar farm of Don Mariano Lacson.

All I can say to Negros is…. there are lots of historical sites with spectacular events that could be explored. Don’t miss the trip. Come and experience…..

ODIONGAN EYESPOTS

I chose this topic to blog to make people from other places aware of what is new in Odiongan.

Odiongan provides visitors with plenty of choices. A community nestled in a peaceful, quiet, and beautiful surroundings with a bounty of natural land formations and panoramic views.

In my experience, Odiongan is a place I love to live. Staying here for almost 20 years would mean 100% awareness of what could be found in the said place. As a mother and a teacher, being with the students for eight hours a day and raring my three smart and lovely daughters for the rest of the day is so tiring that needs a break. Therefore, I prefer to visit some remarkable place of Odiongan especially during night time to unwind. The “Baywalk” is located at Barangay Tabin-dagat and Barangay Ligaya just a walking distance from our house.

For so long, the site was so untidy and not a suitable place to relax. It is a crime scene venue. As years passed by… the said area were developed into a lovely place to stay with family and friends. There were street lights that parade along the baywalk and many businessmen put up business along the way that adds life and beauty to the place. These changes had made people from different barangays attracted. That’s why during night time there you can see lots of people having fun, going swimming til midnight without any danger.

Another place which I like to is the “SIGKOP” located at Progreso Este, Odiongan, Romblon. When developed it will give the honor and pride to the people of Tuguis. It is made of stones on both sides and with flowing water in between. It looks like a cave and a nice place to visit. Come and see…