their future their pride - aetas

it was in the afternoon when i visited the Katutubo Village in Planas Porac Pampanga. i made sure to check out the school situated inside the village grounds. the school has four buildings with one room for each grade school level.i also had the time to talk to the teachers of the school who were really devoted to help the children. they consider teaching here as a mission. i met ma'am Remedios who guided me around this small school.the students greeted me in English. impressive! they are now following the current educational curriculum. so you can interact with them by speaking Tagalog or English. they were so happy studying as i observed for a short while their activities. in one math class, i was given the chance to check their seat works and they did well at it. what a privilege! ma'am Remy shared to me that they are now becoming confident as they learn more things in school.the school today, only offers elementary level. so when they graduate from grade school they transfer to the schools near the town proper for them to be able to interact with other students outside the village.the Philippine flag concretely says that they are Pinoy. after their class, they went out playing and asked me to take a picture of them. you can see the smile that they really deserve. i'm glad because i can see that though they did not recover yet from the effects of the eruption, they are slowly moving forward in education.soon these children will be bringing home their diplomas as they continue to dream big. thanks to the teachers here who selflessly offer their time, resources and their love to the children of Katutubo Village. this is the school where my new found aeta friend manong Dencio is working as a volunteer. i met him unintentionally on my way here and led me to their village instead of the one i'm supposed to visit which was farther. so i dedicate this post to him. we are planning to be there by September this year to do outreach. they were asking if we can donate a printer for their computer, school paraphernalia , a speaker for their sound system and other needs. you are absolutely welcome to help and join us there.i won't be able to visit your blogs this weekend as i'll be out again on the far north of Luzon.

finding katutubo village - porac

when we arrived at the Planas drop point, i approached the aeta that went with us in the jeepney. i asked if it's possible for me to reach Pasbul village by walking, he said that it's far and that if i take a tricycle, it'll cost P200. i didn't enough time to travel that long because i was scheduled to be in Angeles Pampanga by 5:30pm.i mentioned to him that i need to visit an aeta village, then he suggested that i should instead visit their village, which was closer than Pasbul village which the town people recommended. so i agreed and joined him walking. he speaks Tagalog because of the frequent visit of people from the city. his name is Dencio. blessed enough to have met mang Dencio.after 15minutes we were now entering their village. he went to the school where he was helping the school's new cooking area. i thanked him as i decided to walk around the village and see the cottages around the clear grassy ground.houses were made up of nipa or what we call nipa huts. a basketball court was on one side of the ground and a small chapel on the opposite side. i saw some of them walking around and even asked this lady to smile as i take a shot of her. i continued walking and saw an abandoned cottage where a lady, a girl and a little kid were sitting. i approached them and asked if i can take a seat in the bench opposite to where they are sitting. started to interact with them. the lady's name is Del while the girl's name is Jessica. i asked where they were when Mt. Pinatubo erupted and manang Del shared her story of actually running away from their homes carrying her child after huge smoke came out of Mt. Pinatubo's peak. although there were already signs that the mountain was about to erupt, they didn't evacuate thinking of their crops and their house. but not when the mountain started to emit pyroclastic materials. they run as far as they can along with other aetas in their village. after hours of walking and running, they reached the plain area where other evacuees were already being treated by some volunteers. they were already near Bataan. they were able to escape Mt. Pinatubo's fiery destruction. now she has four children and has been in the village for years now after the eruption. the child below is manang Del's youngest son. the little kid sitting on the ground is Jessica's little brother,his name is James. Jessica's little brother. she was about to treat James' feet with a medicine because of the wounds on his feet. as his feet was dipped in a basin of medicine, he started crying. after sometime, talking to them. i asked where are the other people in their village. she said that the children are in school while the men are working. they were friendly. even had some time joking with them. bid goodbye as i started walking back to check out the school within the village. saw some kids along the road playing while others were carrying water to their houses. they walk around freely here. another woman passed and i asked her to smile for a shoot and gave me this pose and her best smile. i can see that they are happy here. they say that this place is very safe but it is still being discussed as to who really owns this land. i hope that this land will be given to them as they continue to recover from the effect of the eruption.

in search of the aetas - porac

if the people of Bacolor experienced massive mudflows from Mt. Pinatubo's eruption, the aetas has experienced more damaged as they were living in the Pinatubo caldera itself. the aetas are the indigenous people of the mountainous area of Central Luzon. meeting the aetas was my main goal in this journey. it was around 12:30noon when i left San Guillermo church in Bacolor. now going South West in the municipality of Guagua Pampanga. took a quick lunch and immediately asked directions that will lead me to Porac Pampanga. the people gave me the instruction to take a jeepney at the Sta. Rita crossing going to Porac. the direction was quite easy but the trip was quite long passing by some houses which were also affected by the mudflows but were now recovering. i noticed that we were getting closer and closer to the mountainous area which is a sign that we are approaching the municapility of Porac. it was around 1:35pm when we arrived at the town of Porac. took a short visit to the church in and the municipal hall. the town was quite small and simple. from there, i asked for some directions again going to Planas. the instruction was to take a jeepney that goes to Dinalupihan Bataan that will pass by Planas. air was now cooler as we travel farther. from the jeepney, we can already see the mountains covered with clouds .according to the driver, the trip to Planas will now be shorter than the Guagua-Porac trip. about half way there an aeta joined us in the jeepney. a sign that we are already approaching an aeta village.

buried memories - bacolor

the whole town of Bacolor Pampanga was buried with lahar flowing from Mt. Pinatubo. that was 1991 (not 1995 as posted before) when Mt. Pinatubo exploded and damaged its surrounding provinces that includes Pampanga. among the biggest damage was the town of Bacolor which used to be Pampanga's capital town. after the construction of the mega dike which was used to divert the pyroclastic mudflow from the town. but it was quite late to save the town which was already covered with lahar. the highway was reconstructed years after the eruption.the San Guillermo church was partly saved from the volcano's wrath. half of the church's height was buried leaving only six meters of its original structure.the church now seems small from its original high flooring style. the floor was filled with lahar making it impossible impossible for them to remove it. so the church was refurbished the best way they can.what used to have long beautiful chandeliers now has simple chandeliers hanging on wood bars of the church's ceiling.
on one side of the church, you will still see the damages. on this area, the church placed old photos of what the church used to look like.
what remained from the church's doors are its lintels and its iron jam, which are now at floor level.
the church is now popular being one of the structures that survived the eruption. houses around the church did not escape from the damages. but more houses were now rebuilt and is more beautiful.this was just a side trip from my main destination, to a village of people who were affected the most from the eruption.how to get there:
>from Manila: ride a bus in Metro Manila going to Olongapo or Bataan. tell the bus conductor to drop you off at San Guillermo church in Bacolor. from the highway, you can either ride a tricycle or just walk as it is just meters away from the highway. travel time from Manila to Bacolor can vary depending on the traffic along EDSA. trip from Balintawak exit to Bacolor is just 45minutes along NLEX and exit to San Fernando going Olongapo/Bataan route.

receive the power - wyd 2008

the largest youth event in the world is about to happen again this week. the World Youth Day 2008! i never had the chance to attend any of the WYD but i can see the excitement of people who are going to Sidney this week. this year's theme is
'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.' Acts 1:8

you can visit the official webesite at www.wyd2008.org or might as well check out one of the promotional video. to note, the biggest ever WYD happened here in Manila in 1995. this year's theme song is "Receive the Power" as sung by Guy Sebastian and Paulini.

i'm sure this will be another big event for the youth to reflect and be reminded of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit.this week, byaheng noypi will feature my trip short way North of Manila.

blue list 2008

upon checking the bookshops lately, the Lonely Planet's Blue List 2008 caught my attention. this book recommends the world's hottest trends today. i am not surprised to see the island of Camiguin of the Philippines in the Next Tourist Attraction list of this book. this island has been one of the most promising islands in the archipelago that offers a lot of options for climbers and beach bums.

also on the list is Mt. Pinatubo for the Volcanoes Visiting list. i will never forget when we trek our way up its stunning crater. truly the Philippines is gaining name in the tourist industry today. thanks to Lonely Planet!

noontime fishing

it was at noontime when i was at the lake and i noticed that people are either having a picnic, driving a bike, swimming or fishing. imagine the heat today ,which sometimes reaches 35 degrees Celsius, yet you'll see these people fishing.people walking with fishing rods, setting up their baits along the lake shore is a common scene in Sampalok lake on a weekend.some do it for a living while others enjoy it as a leisure. kids also had their own time of spending time with the lake by making improvised boats made up of styrofoam.
the sinking of the boat Princess of the Stars in the coast of Sibuyan island might have affected the sales of fishes in Luzon but not in Sampalok lake as they rely more on the fresh water fishes.being an archipelago with 7,107islands with several bodies of water within the islands, it shows that a large number of Filipinos depend their living in fishing. next to biking and fishing around the lake, i highly recommend jogging. specially for people who seek to loose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. so here's a guide from the local officials of San Pablo for those who wants to jog around Sampalok lake:

Circumference: 3.7kilometers
Activity -------- Fast -------- Slow
Walk -----------35mins ------ 42mins
Jog -------------22mins -------30mins
Run ------------16mins -------19mins

San Pablo city might not be the best place to be, but it's worth visiting for a day trip.

around the lake in minutes

one of the things that you shouldn't miss when you visit San Pablo city is to bike around the lake shore of Sampalok lake.
you can rent a bike from the park area for P10 good for one round around the lake. the lake's circumference is 3.7kilometers which can take you to around 15-20minutes of biking. while looking at all the bikes lined up, i asked which one is the best bike and she gave me this. while the rest are mountain bikes, this one has a classic look. at first i resisted but upon trying it, i immediately paid the rent and started pedaling. i named the bike "Blooz" simply because its color is blue with a classic look.some parts of the lake's shore is already occupied by the fishermen. you can see stilt houses with nets surrounding its area. the nets indicates that they breed fishes here.
small fishing boats are almost everywhere. a more common type looks like the boat below but there were also long boats composed of long bamboos tied together to form a floating flat boat.the view from one side of the lake to the other varies as you travel along its circumferential lane. mountains and the hills forms a nice background for the lake.because of beautiful views of the lake around its shoreline, you will notice that there are already beautiful big residential houses, motel and restaurants along its lane although majority of it are still occupied by typical Filipino houses.
don't worry about food because there are some mini shops that offers merienda near the starting point.
it took me 40minutes to bike back to the starting point because i was stopping once in a while to get a shot of the place. it's one good exercise with a nice view of the lake. what was really good is that the place is safe and the circumferential lane allows you to see multiple views of Sampalok lake. i highly recommend that you try biking and might as well pick "Blooz" for this exercise and leisure around this lake.

city of seven lakes - san pablo

first stop for the byaheng noypi is one of the country's oldest city. the city of San Pablo city in the province of Laguna. it is located south of Metro Manila passing by South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and the national highway going to Lucena in the province of Quezon.the San Pablo is known as the city of seven lakes. the San Pablo cathedral is in the center of the city's town area.
the city's park rises above on one of its lakes. the city hall is one of the big structures in San Pablo which is located at the San Pablo park area.from the park's balcony, you'll have a view of Samapalok lake and Mt. Banahaw.>>>going to San Pablo City:
from Manila> take a bus going to San Pablo/Lucena at the Taft-Buendia bus terminal. bus is always available during daytime and less bus travels late night. during off peak hours, it can take you more or less two hours. tell the bus conductor to drop you at Seven Eleven San Pablo.
from Alabang> look for Jollibee located in front of the Muntinlupa barangay hall. from there, you'll find bus going to San Pablo/Lucena. from here it will take you less than two hours to San Pablo.on my next post, i'll take you on a ride around San Pablo's largest lake.

coffee painting workshop

inviting you to Sunshine Plata's Coffee Painting Workshop. as you can remember we had an interview online with her few month's back. i would like to promote it this time.if you really are not into painting, you might as well drop by on that day to meet and greet.

the man behind the colors of the philippine islands

the Philippines has 7,107 islands to journey but here's one of the person who has already been to all the islands. "i was here when the late president Ferdinand Marcos ordered the construction of the man made lake with a replica of the Philippine islands" as manong Nephtali narrates.it was late in the afternoon when i decided to pass by this huge man made park in Luneta park Manila. i saw this man painting the signs that indicates the names and the location of the provinces found in the map. i approached him and asked if he also painted the whole man-made island replica. he said "yes" and started to tell stories about it.he proudly narrated me how he was hired during that time which he considers as his most memorable experience in this job. while i was listening to him, it was like we were going back to those days as he explained it in detail. "it was in November 14, 1968 when the city officials asked me to do a trial paint. for just a short time, i finished one island and they were impressed. on that same day, they hired me" manong Nephtali recalls.he was at the park during the Marcos' downfall but luckily they were absorbed by the Aquino government. he then took his wallet and showed me his identification card. he is an Ilonggo who at the age of twenty transferred to the city of Manila. he was hired to paint the islands in the late 1960s along with other painters and sculptors. he had a wife who died from a goiter disease and asthma leaving him four of their children. his four children were able to finish their studies in college of whom one is still under his care today. "i worked here for about 43years now, repainting the island-replica 9times from the time it was constructed" he said at the same time pointing the island of Romblon which was the first island assigned for him to paint.he also did other painting jobs for the other structures managed by the National Parks Development Committee under the Department of Tourism of the Philippines in Manila. but he already retired from this job but still chose to work for a contractual job on painting the replica of the archipelago. he just turned 65years old last March but i'm amazed at how he retained that experience in his mind and even shared it to me in detail.i asked him what he'll do next after finishing all the painting job, he said "i'll ask the park official to allow me to fix some of the damaged parts of this man-made lake. the holes causes the water to reduce a certain level everyday because of the damage". he was so determined to continue working even at the age of 65.brought him some food on that day and i asked him if he wanted something else. "i simply want a copy of these photos" he said. i asked if that was all that he wanted, he said "yes, that's all". what a simple wish?
he said that it meant so much to him that i was able to take time and listen to his stories not knowing how fortunate i was to have listened to his stories as well.

backpacker's experience

"it is not the place that we see but the people that we meet" was among the most important words from last night's "Backpack Around the World: Pinoy Style" at the Recreational Outdoor Xchange (ROX) at Serendra Fort Bonifacio. the event was composed of stories from the certified backpackers who have been traveling outside the Philippines. sir Robert Alejandro and Jetro shared their east Asia route that included nine countries for three long months of traveling. their backpacking experience included Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau and China in three months. meeting other backpackers along the way, taking pictures and doing artworks. Sir Robert also promoted his book "Backpack Southeast Asia and parts of China" which covered this trip. a newly wed couple Gabby and Mench in the other hand shared their plan for a 25-day backpacking honeymoon in Europe and North Africa. they call it "Manila to Morocco" trip. it was inspiring how they were able to raise money for this trip by setting up a website where people close to them can contribute or sponsor a part of their trip as their wedding gift. last to share was Sian whose backpacking experience amazed everyone because of an almost 2years travel around the Asia, Europe and Africa. she was traveling, hitchhiking, walking, and trekking places all alone. many were inspired how she did it but it was very real as she also shared some of the dangers of traveling alone in a strange place. her funny moments encourages backpackers to really try and do it in their own way. she didn't have an itinerary as she find it more exciting to travel and get lost. the whole 2-hour event was successful as people were given enough time to interact with the speakers. free magazine of the first issue of DisPatch was given to everyone plus prizes like Hi-Tec shoes and the book "Backpack" to lucky participants. thanks to ROX Philippines and Hi-Tec for hosting this event to make it free of charge. this is already the second time and expect a third session in the future. thanks to Erick, Violet and Bambie who also joined the event.

backpack around the world

inviting you to this event tomorrow night at Fort Bonifacio. perfect event for backpackers. this is the biggest recreational outdoor sports hub in Southeast Asia today.thanks to erick aka roadworthyman for inviting. hope to see you there backpacker bloggers. register by emailing rox.cs@primergrp.com or call Tel: +632 8564639.

shout, dance and smile

it would best to start the byaheng pinoy series with a festive mood in the country's capital region. the Philippines has a number of colorful festivals being celebrated all year round. i should say that one of the best and most colorful festival in the country today is Dinagyang of Iloilo city. we are lucky enough to have seen them performed in the Philippine's central business district.
they were invited by the mayor of Makati city to perform during its foundation day the "Araw ng Makati 2008" . the Ayala avenue was closed to make way for the celebration which began at around 4:00pm and ended around 6:00pm. Filipinos gathered at the Ayala avenue to see them perform along with the other performances. but the highlight came as people awaits Tribu Paghidaet's winning performance.it has been noted that most of the festivals in the Philippines were very similar to the Carnaval of Brazil but there is something unique to the festivals like Dinagyang, Ati-Atihan and Sinulog. and this is the presence of the devotion to the child Jesus.the festivals doesn't only display the upbeat sounds of the drums, the colorful costumes but it also displays the beautiful smile that symbolizes Filipino hospitality.the festivals here has now helped boost the country's tourism industry. this year, the Tribu Paghidaet is expected to perform in New York city to promote the Philippine festivals.

byaheng noypi

this July is dedicated to the Filipino lifestyle of traveling the Luzon area of the Philippines. we will also feature backpacker bloggers in the coming days. we are now entering the rainy season and let's hope this will not affect our travel.