an Niño sa palacio

The Cathedral with the lights still on after the Christmas Vigil Mass.

After the mass, the Bishop invited us to have Noche Buena at the Bishop's House (which many old folks fondly refer to as "palasyo"). What caught everyone's attention was the statuette of the Baby Jesus which was the centerpiece at the dining table.

The Bishop's Homily during the Midnight Mass

Here's my unedited video of Bishop Isabelo Abarquez as he delivered his homily during the Christmas Vigil Mass at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral on December 24, 2011.

Arman and Jannel

Armand Alviola and Jannel Canaman got married today. Their wedding mass was held at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Reception was held at the NwSSU Socio-Cultural Center.

Lito and Badit

Lito and Bernadette Yangzon celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary today. The mass and renewal of vows was presided over by Monsignor Leonardo Guadalquiver at the Poor Clare Monastery Chapel. Reception was held at the Calbayog City Convention Center.

Lito and Badit with their kids (l-r)  Arra Clare, Ariane Therese, Arjay Joseph, Ardith Mary & Arby Nino

Mayor Aquino's Welcome Speech during the Education Summit

My raw, unedited video of Mayor Ronaldo Aquino as he delivered his Welcome Message during the 2nd Education Summit which had DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro as guest of honor.

Pasko: an belen sa katedral

Bag-o yana an "Belen" sa Katedral. Ini donasyon ni Mrs. Tess Agoncillo ug iya familia.

Happy Birthday Fr. Cesar and Aika

Fr. Cesar Aculan and Ms. Rosa Jessica "Aika" Uy - Delgado will both turn a year older today. Happy Birthday!

The celebrity hound struck again

DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro was in Calbayog today. He was in town as the guest of honor during the 2nd (Calbayog) Education Summit for 2011. I'll be giving you more details about the visit in my forthcoming blog posts. In the meantime, let me give you something which I do on the sidelines when some celebrity or newsmaker is in town: "pa-picture".


ps. In case you're wondering about the background, it's one of the "SAKAY-NA" buses, which is part of the Education Enhancement Program that LGU-Calbayog and DepEd Calbayog is now known for. The same program has been replicated in a good number of LGUs and DepEd Divisions in Region 8 and in some parts of the country.

Pasko: An Belen sa DepEd (Division Office)

The celebrity hound struck again

I was in Las Navas earlier today.  I was there to represent the City Mayor during the launching of a joint program of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Don't ask me what happened during the program, I have nothing good to say about the organizers. Anyway, on our way out I (or the celebrity hound) simply had to have picture taken with DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman.

Foreign nationals flock to Calbayog City for classical-music concert

By: Pablo A. Tariman
Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:59 pm | Sunday, December 11th, 2011

The second concert of the Samar International Music Festival lived up to its name, with some foreign nationals attending the concert of baritone Andrew Fernando, flutist Christopher Oracion and pianist Mary Anne Espina at Ciriaco Hotel in Calbayog City, Western Samar.


After a long drought of live opera music, Calbayog got to hear arias from Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Bellini’s “Il Puritani” sung with fervor by Fernando. (read more. . .)

Lawmakers: Stop saving drug mules

Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:08 am | Monday, December 12th, 2011

Two lawmakers have urged the government to stop frantically trying to save convicted drug mules from execution abroad but rather to spend taxpayer money on more worthy causes.


Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento said that while it was reasonable to expect the government to help a Filipino suspected of crimes abroad during the trial stage, it should stop interceding once he or she was convicted.


“Once they are found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, the government should stop interceding in their behalf at the expense of law-abiding Filipino taxpayers,” said Sarmiento. (Read more . . .)

it's Gaudette Sunday

Now open: South Star Drug

There's a new drugstore in town. South Star Drug recently opened shop in Calbayog. It is located on on the corner of Rueda Street and Magsaysay Boulevard. Yup, it's the same address (or should I say street corner) where Mercury Drug (the one which also sells groceries) is located. From what I heard, it seems like the corporate credo of South Star is something which says "where Mercury is, there we will be".


My apologies for the quality of the pictures, I used my tab to take these.

Introducing: 8 Magazine

There is a new glossy travel magazine that is proudly "Waray" (read: conceptualized and made into a reality by a bunch of young and driven folks from region 8) It's 8 (ocho) Magazine.


Check on the link on the side bar for the official website of the said magazine. For subscriptions, you may get in touch with Hazel at +63 917-636-6078

The celebrity hound struck again

We saw her at the office of my cousin. I thought she was just another kid. That is until I noticed how she behaved and talked with the employees - straight English (much, much better than the local doctor teachers I know, or I've heard), good manners and yes, she can sing. As it turned out, she was one of the Promil I-Shine kids which has a show on GMA Channel 7. So? Well, her dad Archival Rojas is from Oquendo and her mom Venice Ygrubay - Rojas is from Tinambacan. Did the kid impress me? Let's put it this way, I made sure I had my picture taken with her.

Me and my sister Honey with Cheska

Name: Maria Francesca Rojas
Nickname: Chesca
Age: 4 years old
Talent: Singing
Background: This four-year-old girl may be small but she has one big voice. Chesca once dreamed of being a rockstar, now that she’s on i-Shine, she wants to be a superstar.


The Promil Pre-school i-Shine Talent Camp TV is a talent search and reality TV program showcasing 12 children who managed to shine the brightest in a nationwide talent search and will chronicle their journey as they hone their talents in singing, dancing, acting and other areas, with the help of their Kapuso celebrity mentors and their parents.

Cheska and the other I Shine kids with program hosts Mikee Cojuangco and Paolo Contis

Music Notes: An International Audience in Samar Music Fest

The second concert of the Samar International Music Festival lived up to its name with some foreign nationals attending the concert of baritone Andrew Fernando, flutist Christopher Oracion and pianist Mary Anne Espina at the Ciriaco Hotel in Calbayog City, Western Samar.


After a long drought of live opera music, Calbayog got to hear arias from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Verdi's La Traviata and Bellini's Il Puritani sang with intense fervor by Fernando.


The Broadway section had not a few in the audience singing with Fernando in his rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Some Enchanted Evening from "South pacific."


Flutist Oracion’s rendition of Czardas got a heavy applause and the audience realized the flute was just in the same level of the piano and violin.


Pianist Espina -- laboring through an upright piano that came all the way from Catarman -- tried to make the instrument sing (the first upright from Christ the King College was far better-sounding) but her technique and solid sound made up for the inferior instrument. (read more . . . )

Images from my old hometown

Let me give you something to smile about tonight. I saw this in one the establishments in the city. Apparently the owner or the boss has had enough of "utang collectors" pestering his employees during work hours.

Bottled sardines from Calbayog

Yes, you read it right. A local cooperative has begun producing bottled sardines that is proudly Calbayog-made. This product is called "Biatungan Spicy Sardines". Biatungan Multi-Purpose Cooperative is one of the successful coops in Calbayog. The bottled sardines is their latest venture which is made possible through a tie-up with some agencies among which is the Ramon Lentejas Memorial School of Fisheries.


The "Tamban" fish is sourced locally. The bottle is from Cebu (yes, it's not recycled from empty bottles of other products) and what makes the production cost kinda on the high side is the use of pure corn oil.


Biatungan MPC is located in Tinambacan Poblacion and can be reached at phone number (+63 55) 209-73-82 / 209-72-53.

Pista san Imaculada Concepcion

Flags with the Marian Color of blue and white were installed at the Cathedral premises today in celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The celebration included a a video showing, march for life, and a Pontifical Mass.

356 political prisoners go on hunger strike

By Elizabeth Lolarga
Philippine Daily Inquirer

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar—Since his imprisonment in February, once frail and wan poet-songwriter Ericson Acosta has put on 10-12 pounds, a weight gain that has equipped him with strength and endurance for an ongoing hunger strike.


Acosta, 39, and 355 other political prisoners nationwide began the hunger strike on December 3 to call on President Benigno Aquino III to withdraw “baseless charges” and grant them unconditional amnesty. The strike is to end on the eve of December 10, Human Rights Day. (read more . . .)

Pasko: An Belen sa Christ the King

This is still part of "Pasko / Belen" series". Here are my pix of the "belen" at Christ the King College. This one was set-up near the entrance of the San Damiano Chapel.

more fan pix after the concert

I checked my files and I still got some more pix of the some members of the CKC Youth Symphony Orchestra with Baritone Andrew Fernando and Pianist Mary Anne Espina. These pix were taken after the 2nd Concert of the 1st Samar International Music Festival which was held last December 5, 2011 at Cafe Elsa in Ciriaco Hotel.

Pasko: An Belen sa Rural Bank

As of tonight, not including the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, I have counted only three establishments in Calbayog with the Nativity Scene or the "belen" as a Christmas Decor - the City Hall, Rural Bank and Christ the King College. Here are my pix of the belen at Rural Bank.

An krismas tri sa plaza

Sugad san guinbubuhat sa Calbayog kada bulan san Diciembre sa nakalabay nga pira na katu-ig, guin hayagan na an Christmas Tree san Julio Cardinal Rosales Plaza.

The Artists at tonight's concert

Me with (l-r) Pablo Tariman, Pianist Mary Anne Espina and Baritone Andrew Fernando.

Andrew Fernando, baritone. U.S.-based Filipino Baritone Andrew Fernando was a former member of the Opera Pacific Resident Artist Program where he was seen in more than fifteen productions, notably as Doctor Bartolo in Barber of Seville, Professor Bhaer in Little Women, Marullo in Rigoletto and Kommissarius in Der rosenkavalier. The Los Angeles Times hailed him as the "Young singer to watch!"


Mr. Fernando is the 2003 First prize Winner in the prestigious Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition in the United States. He was also granted the Grand Prize in the 2004 Pasadena Opera Guild Vocal Competition.


During his time in the Philippines, Mr. Fernando sang Marcello in the Cultural Center of the Philippines production of La Boheme, and a Dr. Lavander Gas in Mennoti's Help! Help! The Globolinks! Also an alumnus of the Hongkong Academy for Performing Arts and the University of Santo Tomas, Mr. Fernando has performed in the Hongkong Festival as Zweiter Soldat in their 1998 production of Salome.


In Hongkong, Mr. Fernando was featured as Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Slook (La Cambiale di Matrimonio), Baron de Gondremark (La Vie Parisienne), Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale) and title role in Gianni Schicchi under the baton of Maestro Georg Tintner.


He just appeared in a Shostakovich operetta in Long Beach, California and a revival of Pocahontas in Minnesota, USA.


Mary Anne Espina, pianist. This is the second time that Ms. Espina performed in Calbayog. I have featured her portfolio in an earlier blogpost. Please check this link.

Flutist Christopher Oracion with some members of the CKC Youth Symphony Orchestra

Christopher Oracion, flutist. A two-time first prize winner of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Christopher Oracion has shared the stage with Camille Lopez Molina and Tenor Otoniel Gonzaga at the Philamlife Theater and Cecille Licad in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

The celebrity hound struck again

I arrived late for the concert earlier tonight. I did manage to catch some nice pieces by the three featured artists namely Baritone Andrew Fernando, Pianist Mary Anne Espina and Flutist Christopher Oracion. If there was something which compensated for my missing some concert highlights, it was the chance to encounter Renato "Nato" Reyes, the Secretary-General of BAYAN. And when a celebrity or a news-maker is close at hand, expect the celebrity hound to do what he does best: piktyur-piktyur!

Happy Birthday Mayor Onald!

Mayor Ronaldo Aquino will turn 50 years old today. Happy Birthday!

It's a date tomorrow night.

December 5, 2011
7:00 pm
Cafe Elsa (Ciriaco Hotel)

it's the 2nd Sunday of Advent

It's the second Sunday of Advent. They have lighted the second candle on the Advent Wreath at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

SPSA surgical mission ends today

The Surgical Mission which was conducted by the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America (SPSA) ended today. The mission was made possible through the assistance of Congressman Mel Senen Sarmiento, Mayor Ronaldo Aquino and Vice Mayor Rey James Uy.


Earlier tonight, during the farewell dinner for the missionary doctors, a video which contained some details of the mission was presented. Here is that video (courtesy of Jonas Lim).

Happy Birthday Ma'am Francie

Dr. Francisca Palermo - Santos will turn a year older today. Happy Birthday!

World AIDS Day in Calbayog

In observance of World AIDS Day 2011, the LGU through the City Health Office conducted a symposium on AIDS. They also distributed red ribbons and set up tarps (like the one shown below in strategic places around the city.