Monday, December 31, 2012

Old Year-New Year's sights in Boac



Last  minute shopping for media noche food items, like 12 pieces each 
of round fruits that must be on the dinner table at the stroke of midnight. 


Chicken to be deep fried or cooked as adobong 
manok sa gata or simply grilled.


Pork for menudo, ihaw-ihaw, nilaga.



Gulay for vegetable recipes, chop suey, pinakbet..


Twelve each of these fruits that should sort of guarantee 
their continued presence in the house for the next twelve months...


At the Boac Public Market, soon to be replaced by a new, modern market 
under the leadership of Mayor Bert Madla. 


Sidewalk shawarma is a hot item, too.


Everyone rushing to buy something...


Over in Isok II the neighborhood association has installed massive tents 
for tonight's grand New Year's party complete with fireworks.


This year's punong-abala for the party is media-photographer Ed Cardano, 
president of the the Isok II Married Couples' Association.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE !!!


Sunday, December 30, 2012

Velasco's projects in Boac


 Video on barangay priority projects of Cong. Lord Allan Velasco in the municipality of Boac as of November 2012. These projects are funded under the DPWH budget and other official sources.They include national and barangay farm-to-market road concreting, school buildings, multi-purpose building construction, flood control, river revetment, water supply systems, etc. Such projects are undertaken in accordance with priorities set by the barangay government units themselves. Similar projects are undertaken simultaneously in the other five municipalities of Marinduque province to catch up on tourism and the economic development of this beautiful tropical island.

Alongside health, education and scholarship programs, the funding of small and medium enterprises and implementation of social services and livelihood programs,such projects  and programs are undertaken by Velasco in close cooperation with implementing agencies. Among these are these are the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Agriculture, the National Electrification Administration, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the municipal governments in the province, the Department of Health, Department of Education and educational institutions such as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Marinduque State College and private academic institutions like Educational Systems Technological Institute, Marinduque Midwest College, St. Mary's College of Marinduque and Sta. Cruz Institute. 


Velasco with barangay leaders in Tagwak during a Farm-to-Market Road opening.


Shaking hands with the barangay folks.


Mayor Madla during the FMR inauguration in barangay Pili.


Madla cuts the ceremonial ribbon.


Kapitana Nilda Miranda of Pawa cuts the ceremonial ribbon 
for the barangay Pawa farm-to-market road opening.


During such events women and elderly people happy to meet the Congressman don their kimona and baro't-saya to sing and dance for their fondest youthful leader they still call "P.A."


Similar affair in barangay Daig with local barangay officials led by Kapitan Naling.


This one's taken in barangay Mainit with Kapitan Rene Montaron.


Covered Pathway in Isok I funded under the DPWH Outside Infrastructure - PDAF. It covers 181.2 linear meter of covered pathway located along Marinduque National High School and Don Luis Hidalgo Memorial School in Isok I, Boac, Marinduque.


Construction/Repair of Multi-Purpose Building are likewise funded under Velasco's PDAF. Above photo is the Isok II Barangay Hall, also with installation of plumbing fixtures and painting undertaken by the DPWH.


Velasco in consultation with DPWH Marinduque District offficial and barangay leaders.


Roads that continue to be upgraded are the Marinduque Circumferential Road that covers the six municipalities of Marinduque, as well as the Damian Reyes Memorial Road in the Boac-Torrijos section. Photo above was taken in a road upgrading project in barangay Balimbing.


Riverside Covered Court in barangay Poras.


Friday, December 28, 2012

Getting away by catching tilapia


Getting away from all the daily routine is really the thing to do to just break the monotony of life. The best time to do it is when it isn’t planned, like when somebody just calls from out of the blue to ask ‘would you like to catch tilapia for lunch?’ Then you just drop everything even as another someone turns up also from out of the blue in an attempt to resolve personal issues that would certainly never be resolved in one sitting anyway, you feeling strongly deep inside that it’s just going to be a reprise of a past episode.




So you say ‘yes, I haven’t had tilapia for sometime’, grab your cap and jacket as your protection against the downpour and flag down a trike like there’s an emergency, as you holler back to your surprised visitor, ‘let’s talk another time’, until you get to the middle of nowhere in no time at all, not minding the puzzled look on the driver’s face.


The rain has stopped and you’re shown the backyard tilapia pond and instantly wondered why you never thought of building one before. Tilapia easily take the bait pala with just bread balls, but come to think of it, I never caught a fish for the last twenty years. The expensive fiberglass fishing rod I had then, got broken in two the very first time I used it that I simply threw it away in exasperation, entirely giving up the idea of catching any fish at any time. Now I know, when getting away from it all, you do learn something new everyday and realize you also think quite differently now. 

Velascos bring holiday cheer


Chateau du Mer Beach Resort was one of two venues for Congressman Lord Allan Velasco's annual Christmas gift-giving party. Chateau is located in Amoingon in the town of Boac and is a popular choice for events such as weddings, baptisms, birthdays, seminars, etc. 


The Christmas party at Chateau was attended by some 2,000 barangay residents from Boac, Gasan and Mogpog who went home with raffle prizes consisting of various household appliances and/or a bag-full each of products from Purefoods with umbrellas and handbags. Cong. Velasco was assisted by his loving wife, Wen, and the congressional district office staff during the event.


Youth volunteers who assisted in distributing gifts find time to relax after the taxing event.


Part of Cong. Velasco's staff all smiles.


Cong. Velasco and wife, Wen. Happiness is.



The party for the 1st District in Boac (above), was over by 2:00 p.m., by which time the Christmas gift-giving party in the 2nd District (Buenavista, Sta. Cruz and Torrijos) had started at the Congressman's Torrijos residence.  



Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Of two moons and two suns, coincidences and synchronicities

OMG! Twenty years ago (1992), I produced a mythical dance-drama, ‘Mara Unduk’ (inspired by Marinduque’s ancient names Malindug, Malinduq, etc), whose opening lines went like this:
‘In the days of Bathala, when two moons still sailed the sky the earth was inhabited by highly-gifted spirit-people who lived in harmony with all existence. Such immense powers they possessed, for they controlled the four elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth”…’ Read.
After twenty years I now come across a similar claim that, indeed, once there were two moons in our sky and one of them collapsed into a continent in the Pacific. Hmm, someone called Sheldan Nidle, the author of the YouTube video below so states at 4:49. “Now this is Lemuria. This is the place that was sunk when that one moon collapsed on it… the zones that sank in the Pacific, basically proved  that long time ago there was a massive disaster, or catastrophe as they call it, that caused the sinking of the surface world continent into the Pacific bottom… that many geologists then were able to ask, “did Lemuria actually exist?” Answer, high probability, “yes” … And at 6:16: “…this represents islands that were forced up and all of these micro-islands and major islands… for instance even the ones near the surface…  near the continent of Asia you have the Philippines for instance. The Philippines has very special energies, as does Hawaii, as does many of these islands that are remnants of Lemuria because of the Lemurian energy… and there are also ruins which cannot be fully explained…”

Coincidence? Synchronicity? Whichever. And there are other theories, but that concept about two moons, one collapsed, that caused a delubyo until an island rose from the bottom of the sea, Mara Unduk, sea mountain… also read.

Now it’s two days before Dec. 21, 2012 -  the end of the Mayan calendar (but the start of a new one), I just came across this fairly recent video about a scientifically-backed up story on the existence of two suns (!) in our midst and why we couldn’t see the other one (yet), but it would one day be visible. NASA has denied the existence of the planet Nibiru, even as staggering data have been written about it.

But what if NIBIRU is one and the same as TYCHE, the other sun? NASA astrophysicists have proposed the existence of a binary companion to our sun and use the name “Tyche”, a hypothetical planet that would have been recorded by the NASA mission Wide-field Infrared Survey (WISE) launched in December 2009. Read the NASA link here.


I firmly believe that we are indeed rapidly approaching a time of EPIC CHANGE ON PLANET EARTH

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Youth leaders meet in Maniwaya Island

 Youth leaders from the different barangays in Marinduque's six municipalities hold team-building exercises at Maniwaya Island in Sta. Cruz last Sunday. A huge number of them were on this peaceful island of white sand beaches for the first time. Volunteers from JCI Marinduque facilitated the exercises. 

Sun sets in Sta. Cruz.

The campers pitched their tents right beside the cottages but spent most of the night outside singing, cheering and sharing their stories.

Extreme blue sky, clouds in a distance, extremely low tide, swimming had to wait.

Time to play with water.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Christmas give-aways with LAV


Cong. Lord Allan Velasco helps in packing Christmas give-aways as Yuletide carols fill the cool December air. 
Location: Poctoy, Torrijos, Marinduque

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Team Guisian plays against Team Velasco


During weekends and holidays and whenever he's free, Marinduque Congressman Lord Allan Velasco takes time out with Team Velasco to engage barangay players in seaside, riverside and interior districts in friendly basketball matches. This one's a more recent fun game with Team Guisian composed of fishermen and farmers living in Marinduque' northern coast. 

This quiet coastal village of Guisian is hardly known even to many Marinduque residents but visitors are slowly discovering its beautiful attractions that include shore cliffs, caves and secluded beaches. More than a decade ago this hamlet was the site of firefights between rebels and government soldiers, but three years ago, the province of Marinduque was declared by the Philippine Government as the first province in the entire country that's been freed of subversive elements. 



Velasco shaking hands with barangay officials and visitors.

During the last couple of years, villagers have started to organize their own sports
and various cultural events that attract spectators from far barangays.

Video of the friendly match between Team Velasco and team Guisian:

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12.12.12. World Day of Interconnectedness

We are all connected in this living system called Planet Earth.
Watch 'Symphony of Science' - We are all connected.

Power outages in Marinduque due to defective units, to be fixed



‘Defective units’ will cause Marinduque brownouts for next several days, such as ‘defective varistor’ for Unit #1, burnt main stator for Unit #2 and defective breaker for Unit #6. Marelco’s new General Manager, Engr. Gaudencio M. Sol, Jr. has today issued a tentative schedule of power interruption as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 12 between 5:00pm to 10:00pm.:
Tampus to phase portion of Boac Poblacion, Riverside Boac, Ilaya Boac, Tampus to Maygayo, Sto. Nino, Laylay, Laon to Balanacan, Mogpog; Nangka, Mogpog to Maligaya, Boac; High-town & Danao, Mogpog; Pili, Mendez, Sayao to Guisian, Mogpog.

Thursday, Dec. 13 between 5:00pm to 10:00pm.:
Magapua, Mogpog to Sta. Cruz & Torrijos backbone line and lateral lines.

Friday, Dec. 14 between 5:00pm to 10:00pm:
Ihatub, Boac to Gasan & Buenavista backbone line and lateral lines.

Saturday, Dec. 15 between 9:00am to 12:00 noon:
Bantad, Boac to Gasan and Buenavista backbone line and lateral lines. (Reason: Pull-out of automatic circuit recloser of Feeder 2 at Bantad;  fixing of primary jumpers of Feeder 2).

Between 5:00pm to 10:00pm:
Tampus to phase portion of Boac Poblacion, Riverside Boac, Ilaya Boac, Tampus to Maygayo, Sto. Nino, Laylay, Laon to Balanacan, Mogpog; Nangka, Mogpog to Maligaya, Boac; High-town & Danao, Mogpog; Pili, Mendez, Sayao to Guisian, Mogpog.

Sunday, Dec. 16 between 5:00pm to 10:00pm:
Magapua, Mogpog to Sta. Cruz & Torrijos backbone line and lateral lines.

Monday, Dec. 17 between 5:00pm to 10:00pm:
Ihatub, Boac to Gasan  & Buenavista backbone lateral line.

Saturday , Dec. 22 between 9:00am to 5:00pm:
Magapua, Mogpog to St. Cruz & Torrijos backbone line and lateral lines. (Reason: Replacement of defective automatic oil circuit re-closer at San Vicente, Sta. Cruz; installation of sectioning fuse cutout at San Vicente.

Meanwhile, the NPC Boac Diesel Power Plant issued the following Marinduque Grid Capability Report that shows the prevailing maximum demand at 7,630 kW with grid dependable capability at 6,500 kW. This shows a power deficiency of 1,130 kW.





Tuesday, December 11, 2012

MSC Universityhood approved by the House, now in Senate

Marinduque State College was originally founded in 1953 as the Marinduque School of Arts and Trade.
In photo is Congressman Lord Allan Velasco and MSC President Romulo H. Malvar.

House Bill No. 04457 entitled "An Act Converting the Marinduque State College in the Municipality of Boac, Province of Marinduque into a State University to be known as the Marinduque State University and Apprpriating Funds Thereof", has been approved by the House of Representatives on November 28, 2012. The bill was transmitted and officially received by the Senate of the Philippines on November 29, 2012. Principal author of the bill is Cong. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco with co-authors Mark Aeron H. Sambar, Irvin Maano Alcala and Angelo B. Palmones.

House webpage with information on Velasco's committee memberships, House measures he sponsored/authored. Read

Monday, December 10, 2012

Boac: Cityhood next?

The newly inaugurated Boac Municipal Building

The town fiesta of Boac, Marinduque was marked this year with the inauguration of two buildings, a project of the administration of Mayor Roberto M. Madla. The first was the Fire Station Building in Brgy. Santol and the second, the new and fully air-conditioned Boac Municipal Building.

Bishop of Boac, Most Rev. Reynaldo G. Evangelista and Mayor Bert  Madla
Based on remarks conveyed during the event attended by several hundred guests from barangays and various local government offices, the occasion served as an opportunity to look back at the time when even the idea of building a bigger government house for this growing municipality was met with skepticism. Madla, previously elected for three consecutive terms until his term expired explained that annual allocation for the construction of a new building was undertaken by the municipal government, yet even with funds sufficient to start construction nothing was done. Upon election for a new term as mayor, he prioritized the project, debunking arguments like “aanhin mo ang magandang bahay kung kumakalam naman ang sikmura mo”, which he argues is not applicable as development concerns are more effectively addressed in convenient and better-equipped facilities.

Mayor Madla
“Boac is a first class municipality, so as soon as we have moved to this new building, the full computerization of our system will come next to fast-track processes. The city government of Tayabas, our future ‘sister city’, and our municipal government has, in fact, recently entered into a MOA in this regard.”, Madla said. “Next we will pursue the full realization of the Dr. Pablo Marquez Health and Diagnostic Center in Boac, eventually being the only municipality in the country with such a facility complete with dialysis machines.”

DILG MIMAROPA Regional Director James Fadrilan
DILG Regional Director James Fadrilan, who graced the occasion, remarked that he was amused to hear the public exchange between the two candidates for mayor of the town, namely Madla and board member Allan Nepomuceno, who both made statements to the effect that they would not allow their long-time friendship to be affected by local politics. In jest, Madla expressed his willingness to support an idea apparently hatched by board member Melecio Go, for both mayoralty candidates to go out of town, preferably to a foreign country, a month before the election provided Go would fully shoulder their expenses. 

Upon hearing this, Nepomuceno, rushed to the mayor’s side who was delivering his speech and raised the mayor’s hand with the victory sign as if in surrender to the delight of the audience.

Cong. Lord Allan Velasco
 Congressman Lord Allan Velasco also graced the occasion to convey his congratulations and continued support to the mayor and members of the Sangguniang Bayan.Vice-Governor Antonio Uy, Jr. also conveyed his remarks. The Most Reverend Bishop of Boac, Reynaldo G. Evangelista came to bless the inauguration of the two impressive buildings, Boac’s newest landmarks.
One of the municipio's stunning staircases

View of the Boac Cathedral from the third floor

Also inaugurated was the new Boac Fire Station in Brgy. Santol

On YouTube: Boac Municipal Building