Coming soon! The Great Moleskine Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Just want to give you a heads up on an upcoming contest on my main blog, Strangely Out of Place.



It's a project spearheaded by Jasper Ong of Avalon.ph, an online shopping site for books, journals and other great items at bargain prices. The Great Moleskine Giveaway is a series of contests hosted by various Filipino blogs, and as the name suggests, the winner will receive their very own Moleskine notebook.

Currently, four blogs have already done their contest. Mine will happen on November 22 to November 26. I will post the mechanics on my blog on that day, and anyone with a Philippine mailing address is invited to join!

Visit Strangely Out of Place for details. In the meantime, you can check out Avalon.ph's blog for the list of blogs that are also in the contest.

Conquer Zambales: The Sidetrip Travel Magazine Adventure Race

 Sidetrip, a free quarterly travel magazine featuring new and exciting places to visit in the philippines, is hosting “Conquer Zambales: A Sidetrip Travel Magazine Adventure Race” this October 24 & 25. One hundred teams of two will complete various tasks in selected tourist attractions around Zambales. Each team must have their own car as a means of transportation around the province and must finish each task before moving on to the next.

Pre-registration is a must, and will end on October 20. For more deatails, please visit Sidetrip Magazine’s Multiply page. or check out www.conquerphilippines.com

This is a great opportunity for the province of Zambales to showcase its beauty to the rest of the country. I won't be able to join the contest, but I'm thrilled that Candelaria will also play a part in the race.

Crossposted: http://candelariaz.blogspot.com

News: Zambales OKs early flood warning system

Zambales OKs early flood warning system

By Robert Gonzaga
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 02:14:00 09/23/2008
IBA, ZAMBALES – This province adopted on Thursday a P1.4-million community-based early warning system being used by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in the country's flood-prone areas.
Pagasa Director Prisco D. Nilo said the project was the result of "what happened in the Surigao provinces in 2006 when flash floods hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippines, causing great damage to property and loss of life."
Nilo led a ceremonial turnover of the project here.
Zambales is the sixth province in the country to adopt the system among the 13 provinces given priority by Pagasa, the lead agency that addresses the threat of weather disturbances. Because of its location, it is "prone to flash flooding because it is exposed in both the eastern and western seaboards," Nilo said.
Nilo said the warning system was "an attempt to save lives and do what is necessary before a disaster occurs by giving people enough time to prepare and local government agencies to act."
Pagasa plans to install the system and train residents in Ilocos Sur, Cavite, northeastern Samar and Bohol next year.
Dr Susan Espinueva, hydrologist and officer in charge of flood forecasting and warning section, is task leader of the new system.
"After consulting with the local government units and training the observers, what we do next is designate a disaster operation center in the municipality or barangay. At different points scattered throughout the area, we've identified flash flood-prone areas and assigned observers to obtain data that will be sent to the disaster operation center for interpretation," she said.
The most important indicators of an imminent flash flood are rainfall intensity and water-level height which observers should measure every two hours during heavy rains.
Espinueva said the community must know about the system for it to be effective.
Scattered throughout Zambales are 15 electronic rain gauges, three standard rain gauges, alarm systems, a public address system, signs, monitoring boards and the operations manual for observers and operation center personnel.
Gov. Amor Deloso pointed to Mt. Pinatubo as a significant cause of the rise of flash floods in Zambales.

Testing... :)

Inquirer: Skeletons of 12 people dug up at Iba town plaza

Skeletons of 12 people dug up at Iba town plaza

By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 22:46:00 08/28/2008

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—The skeletal remains of 12 people were dug up at the town plaza of Iba, Zambales, on Thursday as construction laborers started the groundwork for a covered court, Governor Amor Deloso said in a telephone interview.

The skeletons were intact when workers moved the soil out of a five-meter pit in what may have been a mass grave, he said.

The pit, spanning two meters on each of the four sides, is located in the middle of the Iba town plaza fronting the Zambales provincial capitol.

Deloso said the diggings, which started on Wednesday, were part of a plan to build a covered court at the plaza.

“These people might have been buried here more than 60 years ago because when I was in Grade 4, the town plaza was already covered with concrete,” said Deloso, 69.

He said the Deloso house was 200 meters from the town plaza.

“The strange thing is that I don't recall anybody, not even the elders in the village, talk about a mass grave or mass burial. There's a mystery here,” he said.

Deloso has asked forensic experts from the Philippine National Police to study the skeletons and establish their gender, nationalities or identities.

According to my brothers, the plaza is located directly behind the Iba church, and is possible that the remains may be part of an old and small cemetery.

Honor student killed, 14 hurt as tornado hits bus in Zambales

Honor student killed, 14 hurt as tornado hits bus in Zambales

 MANILA, Philippines - A candidate for high school valedictorian was killed while 14 were injured after a tornado caused their school bus to overturn in Zambales province Monday morning.

Radio dzRH reported that the incident occurred along the national highway at Salaza village in Palauig town in Zambales, at 10 a.m.

The fatality was initially identified as Paolo Mara, 15, a fourth-year student at the Zambales National High School and a candidate for valedictorian in his class.

Making the incident more tragic was that the fatality is the son of a single parent.

Initial investigation showed the bus was heading for Zambales Norte when a tornado hit it and caused it to overturn. Mara hit his head on a post.

The other passengers were rushed to the President Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital where they are now under observation.

Palauig is a third-class town with a a population of 29,983 people in 5,945 households. - GMANews.TV

Paolo Mara is a friend and batchmate of my youngest brother, who told me about the incident a few hours after it happened. Our condolences and prayers go out to Paolo's family.

News: Group protests destruction of mountain in Zambales

Group protests destruction of mountain in Zambales

PALAUIG, ZAMBALES – The Olongapo-Zambales civil society network, composed of nongovernment organizations pushing Mt. Tapulao here as a mining-free area, staged a protest march in this town on Wednesday to save the mountain from miners and turn it into an ecotourism site.

Mayor Generoso Amog said he is leading moves to declare Tapulao, which Americans used to call "High Peak," into a "protected area or protected landscape."

Local officials said pine trees abound in Tapulao, one of the highest peaks in Central Luzon, and its unspoiled environment could rival the attractions of Baguio and Tagaytay cities. They said the mountain has at least eight waterfalls.

Amog said because of mining activities in some of its sections, Tapulao is now "in grave danger."

"Right now, the miners are tunneling all over the mountain in search for ore and they are putting the summit in danger of collapsing," he said.

Councilor Eric Alba said mining companies have long been in the area because of chromite ore abundant in Mt. Tapulao.

Amog said the local government and other groups are appealing for the cancellation of the license issued to the C-Square Mining Co., which, he said, has been operating in Mt. Tapulao since he was a boy.

"We are trying to move [to] declare the area a 'mine-free area,'" he said.

Amog said he hopes to turn Mt. Tapulao into an ecotourism site when C-Square's permit expires next month.

"That's why we are appealing to President Macapagal-Arroyo to declare Mt. Tapulao as a protected area so we can turn this into an eco-site for future generations," he said.

"If we lose Mt. Tapulao to miners, then we would lose a very beautiful spot in Zambales. I hope it doesn't go to waste," he said.

Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso said the mining permit granted to C-Square came "from the national level."

"They have been there for a long, long time," he said. Robert Gonzaga, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Cinemalaya presents BOSES

This year's Cinemalaya has an entry titled, "BOSES" (Voice). It's the story of a musician, who regains back his humanity by giving violin lessons to a child of the slums. In turn, the child, through the instrument, is able to get back his voice from a muted, abused and desensitized existence. This is a story of a friendship founded on the sublime beauty of music. (blurb from Yoopee)

It stars Ricky Davao, Meryll Soriano, and Ms. Cherry Pie. The interesting part here is the child actor is none other than Casa San Miguel student Julian Duque. Coke Bolipata is also in the movie as the reclusive musician, and I believe it was shot in Casa San Miguel. He also is the movie's musical director, and you'll see him play several times in the movie. Prepare to be amazed.

I met Julian, or Ambo as he's more known, two years ago, during their performance at the Light in a Million Mornings in PICC. He was only six or seven years old then, and the youngest of all the musicians. My younger sister and brother were also playing, and they were all students of Sir Coke. Ambo's violin is really small but he plays it so well.

Here's another chance for Zambales to be in the spotlight! I hope those who are in Manila can take the time to watch this. The movie has a very wonderful message, and is also a vehicle for campaign against child abuse.

For schedules: CINEMALAYA GOES UP 2008 schedule

Related news: Cinemalaya's Boses offers hope, music for kids

Article feature!

Zambales got featured in HR Traveller just recently! The talented Den Enriquez wrote about our wonderful province for the site. It's a simple write-up, but has enough information to entice people to visit.

Do check the article out, and perhaps leave a comment. Oh, and guess who took the picture? :D

Victory Liner fare hike

I just called Victory Liner Caloocan and confirmed the fare increase. Trips to Sta. Cruz from Caloocan now costs P437, from the previous price of P385.

Fare from Caloocan to Candelaria is now P409 from P335. I don't know if that includes insurance.

For more information on the rates to specific towns, you can call the Caloocan station at 361-1506 to 10.

Cross posted at: Candelaria, Zambales