happy new year everyone!

Taming the Water Dragon for some luck!

wearing Broadway on my Levi's from UK

When 2011 concedes to 2012 tonight, I will be wearing Broadway on my Levi's from UK.

The boot cut, “Made in Mexico” Levi’s sold for P200 in a UK joint fronting the house of Mrs. Carmencita Montesclaros in Tandag. When I saw the “gash” on the knee, I knew it was meant for me.

I haggled for P100 but the salesperson said the lowest he could go was P150. I walked away, praying he would call me back. He did!

As I was holding my Levi’s, my mind was already going on maximum overdrive on how to jazz it up.


(it's Les Miserables!)



I went to Nong Vencio Fabor to have the gash zigzagged in the way I wanted. While the waistline was perfect for me, the length wasn’t. I was “41”, my UK Levi’s was “48”. It was painful letting go of the beautifully torn hemline.


(a repro of the painting by Cebu's famous artist but whose name shall remain a secret.)


Then I went to my artist. When I gave him the designs and he said he could do them, I had palpitations. I told him I will bid adieu to 2011 in style, he said my wish is his command.

I got my wish; he got his bonus.

2012 here I come!




(the gash details that had been zigzagged to specs! i specifically requested the artist not to smear the gash with paint.)

circumnavigating Tago for BISDAK

Our goal that day was to distribute 60 BISDAK coupons; and the plan was to begin at Iran and end at Mangga Dos.

The sun was up. But not wanting to be tricked, we armed ourselves with umbrellas. I wore yellow slippers; Ramil wore blue. Inside my bag was a jumble of eyeglasses, ball pens, notebooks, coupons, candies, USB, etc.

As we hit the road, I warned Ramil to keep his bleeding heart in check. We’re targeting 150 beneficiaries only, I said.

We went to Bongtud (popularly known now as Iran) and began at the same exact spot where we (Atty. Lumactod and Titser Mae) had left off a week ago. I took charge of writing the names and issuing the coupons while Ramil, the interviewing: Are you a member of 4 Ps? How many children do you have? What’s your work? Where do you get your food?

From Iran we went to Boulevard. Surprisingly, the community there was quite “well-off” compared to Iran, with some having tv and washing machine. Only a few coupons were distributed. When we reached Sapa, Ramil saw that some houses were leaning and half done. And because they are my neighbors, I've already pre-identified them.

It began to rain as we proceeded to Kasaw-kasaw, a community in Duma-duma that thrives on the waterfront of Tago River. Some houses have torn blankets as walls, others have nipa shingles with holes. It was a vision of poverty at its starkest!

Then we proceeded to the inner sanctum of Citrus Dos where most men and children were naked from the waist up, with skin made darker by years of fishing and weaving nipa under the harsh sun. As we waded through muddy waters, I told Ramil that we might get alipunga. His rebuke came quick: "Saba Romel, wa gani alipungaha iton carabao na permi galatak nan lapok."

"Kay may sapatos san mga yapating naman," I retorted.

Because some houses stand right smack in the river, we had to negotiate an unsteady and uneven foot bridge no wider than a child’s stretched thumb and middle finger. Things got a bit unwieldy because I had to maintain my balance while pressing the umbrella handle between my jaw and shoulder and writing the names in my notebook and making sure it doesn’t get wet from heavy rains. We prodded on until a foot bridge broke and I fell, leaving a scratch on my left leg. Ramil and I just laughed it off, blaming each other for being overweight. Since then, Ramil told me to keep myself at bay and leave it to him to get the names.

Then following a foot trail that overflowed with rain water, we headed for Soong and Mangga Dos. By this time, our umbrellas were already disfigured as many times they had caught either a clothesline or a branch. Though we’re both cynophobic, Ramil agreed to walk ahead of me, stopping dead on his track every time a dog barked its presence.

I remember visiting the same community 30 years ago when a typhoon hit Tago and as Seniors at Purisima School we distributed bundles of joy along with the SPC nuns. The community has grown, alright, but so do misery and poverty.

Every way we looked, poverty stared at us and never blinked.

But a situation like this doesn’t lack irony. We were in what could be the poorest section of Tago when a motorcycle arrived to deliver a purified water to one of the nipa shacks. As Ramil was busy interviewing potential beneficiaries, I did my own with the children. They may be poor, but they had names like Heathcliff, Jefferson, and Cauliflower. A baby sleeping on a makeshift hammock was named Obama while another child playing on the bamboo floor with a broken toy was named Shrek. I could only hope the parents got the spelling of the last one correctly, otherwise they’re better off naming their child Scream.

We went home past lunch time. Ramil was dripping wet but he seemed not to mind as he was always smiling. I bathed soon as I reached home, had lunch, and hit the bed. When I woke up I felt mild body pains everywhere. As I felt an onset of fever, I took Bioflu, then ate some Christmas leftovers from the fridge, and went to Emily where we had another good laugh about our circumnavigating Tago in half-a-day.

kulas

Kulas used to be Tago’s minstrel. Everybody remembers him as the person to go to if one wanted to audition for amateur singing contests in the 70s and 80s. A virtuoso in stringed instruments, Kulas shares his talent without counting the cost to interested Tagon-on musicians in the making.

But poverty has robbed Kulas of his music and his gift. He longs for those nights when the sky is sequined with stars and the moon is full and he sits by the window of his hovel, evoking stories of sadness and truth from the tired strings of his battered guitar.

Give Love on Christmas Day

Yesterday afternoon I sent Atty. Eric Lumactod a text message if he was free at 4 PM. When he asked why, I said I wanted him to join me in making an ocular inspection of the area where the targeted beneficiaries of BISDAK (Bisaya Inspired to Serve and Do Acts of Kindness), California-USA live. I'll make time, he said. I also sent another text message to Japan but she had already left for Tandag with Bingbing.

Atty. Eric and I met at the corner of Purok Calamansi. We went to the house of his batchmate, Teacher Mae, so she could come with us. While walking, he suggested to coordinate with purok president for the identification of beneficiaries. While it's a good idea, I have reservations because it can be tainted with politics. To this Teacher Mae agreed.

On our way to Bongtud it rained and the ever-ready Teacher Mae had brought an umbrella. What we saw in Bongtud broke our hearts. There was this shack no bigger than our toilet but three households live under it. If poverty and squalor had a face, we had come face-to-face with it yesterday. And I tell you, it's not a pretty face.





I've also made a survey of the inmates in Tandag. I have requested my officemate Bema, the wife of the Provincial Head of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, to request Ping to float the questionnaires. Today she gave me some of the filled out forms.



Here's hoping this BISDAK-coordinated love project will come into fruition because a lot of less fortunate Tagon-ons will surely have a merry Christmas.

campo montero

If not for the relentless text messaging of Belen Pareja-Laurente, I wouldn’t have attended the opening of Tago’s newest watering hole, Campo Montero, even if earlier that day, the owner had sent somebody to our office to invite me and another officemate. The fun starts at 5:30, the boy said as he left, like it was an afterthought.

I drove home braving the heavy rains at around half past five, reported to my post at Emily’s at around six and headed back home after a while to have dinner at 7:30. Then Bebel’s text messages started coming. And so at around 9:00 Gly and I walked under a drizzle to Campo Montero at the corner of Espinoza and Falcon Streets, just a block and a half from home.

The place blazed with tiny lights and crawled with people. Pitched at the center was a humungous San Miguel Beer tent in blood red. When I saw Aldrin Montero, SMC-Tagum’s top gun, in some corner, I knew why.

I went there as a freeloader and so I knew not if the sisig I munched and the 7-up and San Mig Lite I drank at the table that Josie Montero led us to were on the house or not. (It was opening night, remember?) But later, when Manong Lalo Medrano arrived, joined us, and made us order more sisig and beer, the tab got picked and paid!








I’m a virtual non-drinker and I’m on diet because my blood sugar has gone amok. I went there to strike a good conversation with friends and strangers and I got it from Campo Montero owners: young entrepreneurs-slash-cousins Toto Campomanes and Mikey Montero . I know these kids, Toto most especially, because while growing up they used to spend a portion of their summer vacation in Tago, staying with their Lola Awi whose house was just a stone’s throw from ours.

Campo Montero's tarp said it’s a wifi area but when I requested Josie to ask for the password, she came back with nothing. What was within range though was the “Laurente Family Network” but just the same, I wasn’t able to post my FB status in between stuffing my mouth with sisig because the connection was slow.

“We want this to be a family-oriented resto bar,” Toto said after he introduced me to Mikey. He added that it was also what Aldrin, another cousin, suggested.

“Do you have plans of putting a videoke machine?” I said, wanting to make sure.

Toto looked at Mikey and they both smiled. “No,” he said.

Halleluiah! Hearing Toto say that was like hearing angels sing. I mean, who needs another seedy videoke bar where your putting-up with unruly kids and injured vocal chords can make you want to go ballistic?

I want these young entrepreneurs to succeed not only because they're my neighbors but because big investments are involved and Campo Montero might just redefine Tago’s night life. That said, I gave them tips culled from my lectures as part time instructor at the graduate school of business in Tandag and from the numerous business seminars the Department of Trade and Industry had sent me to.

“Just be very sure of your target market,” I told Toto and Mikey. Will you go for preppies who just crowd the place and order a Junior Lapad enough to last them the whole night or go for yuppies whose disposable income puts them in the position to pay big in exchange for a cozy, quiet, and relaxing night?

I also told Toto and Mikey to go for branding. What are the things they want to associate Campo Montero with? Is it the food? Is it the service? Is it the ambience?

I felt I had shared enough things that night for Toto and Mikey to chew on. And here’s hoping they’ll think about them because as it is, there’s a host of concerns they need to address immediately. And I’m not even talking about the comfort room and the way the place is configured.

I can only wish these people good luck. But wait, did I say the sisig was good?

"bT3" grand finals

When the lights went out and the “bT3” video rolled to the strains of “Eye of the Tiger”, shrieks came from all corners. And when dancers darted from the wings and cart-wheeled to the center stage amidst swirls of fog, bubbles and strobe lights, the SRO crowd went wild with excitement!

And thus began the grand finals of “bT3” on 8 December 2011 at 9:00 PM at Tago Gym.



“bT3” had come a long way. What started as a seemingly far-fetched idea became a resounding success as more and more Tagon-ons came out of the woodwork to have their talents known! Since its maiden show on 1 October 2011, “bT3” had done a total of eight cycles, producing 56 auditionees. Of these, 48 got to perform but only 26 got through the semi-finals. Of the 26 semi-finalists, only 12 made the cut to the grand finals and had their moments of glory.




“bT3” is a talent show, and because talent is known to straddle a wide spectrum, the organizers, just for the grand finals, had formulated a generic set of criteria that included Overall Performance (50%), Audience Response (20%) and Entertainment Value (30%). This set of criteria became the tool by which the grand prize winner was picked. And that night the herculean task of playing God rested on the hands of the following jurors: Daisy Luna, Marcelinita Pareja, Maria Isabel Dolon-Insame, Ronaldo Paderes, and Ramonito Tan.

The competition was fierce and the talents presented were diverse: four sang, six danced, one did a stand-up comedy act, and another mixed lip synchronization with acting and fire dance. In the end, the jurors were unanimous in awarding Raffy Lastimoso of Purok Tambis the grand prize because of his unique and incomparable “krumping”, a form of dancing that originated in the Afro-American community that is expressive and highly energetic. The Virus Crew, composed of agile, graceful, and good looking youngsters from Dayoan won second while Vange Quico of Cagdapao won third with his effortless handling of a stand-up comedy act that made fun of gays and game shows.

“If this is not world-class entertainment, I don’t know what is,” Mayor Henrich M. Pimentel said in his speech. He must have been very impressed with the quality of the performances and the way the show was handled that he announced he would increase the “bT3” budget next year from P50,000 to P100,000! The crowd roared with appreciation!





The “bT3” grand finals handed out the following prizes: P5,000.00 for the 2nd Runner Up; P6,000.00 for the 1st Runner Up; and P7,500.00 for the Grand Prize Winner. The winners also received trophies. The non-winners got P1,000 each as consolation prize. All these cash bonanzas were made possible by financially talented Tagon-ons who shared their resources and love, namely: Hon. Henrich M. Pimentel and Tago LGU (P50,000); Ms. Sherlita Montero-Sumalpong of Guam (P30,000); Mr. Jonathan Portillo of Dubai (P5,000); Atty. Roberto P. Lozada (P3,000); Brother and sister Sherwin and Felisa Portillo (P1,000); and Ms. Judy Ann Cag-ong Gonzales of Saudi Arabia (P1,300). Another set of sponsors provided snacks to contestants, jurors, and members of the Dream Team throughout the first season of "bT3", thus: Dr. Laiden Elizalde-Oliguiber, Emily Patrimonio, Steve and Angely Yu, Dr. Gemma Young-Ardines, Milagros Paqueo, Mary Grace Elizalde and TT and Company.

“bT3” would have remained on the drawing board if not for the people who gave their unconditional support by doing what was expected of them even if it meant working behind the scene, beyond the spotlight’s glare. As members of the “bT3” Dream Team, the following people had done much, thus: Maria Elena Dolon-Pimentel, Emily Patrimonio, Nicolas Laurente, Belen Laurente, Christian Castillo, Vincent Namalata, Florephi Dagaang, Maria Isabel Dolon-Insame, Peter Espinola, Rollie Suazo, Jose Olvida, Olympia Escalante, Francisca Suazo, Dulce Jasmin, and Erwin Besina.



Hosted by Romel M. Oribe, “bT3” was organized by the Local Government Unit of Tago headed by Hon. Henrich M. Pimentel, the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation of Tago chaired by Hon. Nnekka Marie P. Laurente, and I-Love-Tago Movement.