A Quckie to the Passig Islet of Sta Cruz, Davao Del Sur

There's 3 more days to spare before my flight back to Manila from Davao, and I have no pre-arranged plans.

From General Santos, my plan was to do a daytrip to Balut island, taking the overnight ferry, and then take the other overnight ferry in the following evening back to General Santos. Then again, I've done renovations, and feeding, and I am honestly, a little exhausted. My bag has gone too heavy with all the dirt, and some goodies I bought in the provinces I have been. 

At the same time, I regret doing quick peeks into nice places. As I told myself before, there's no need to rush. I'd rather enjoy it at my first visit, than come back and not have the same awe and excitement I normally get if only I have enough time during a first visit.

Hence, I decided to check out the Passig islet instead.

The Passig Islet in Davao Del Sur is a man made island. It's actually a protrusion that is below sea level during high tide. I was told that sand from nearby were pulled by boats and dumped into this part to serve as a station for fisheries monitoring. The then governor thought of utilizing it as well into tourism for additional revenues.

From the highway, a short walk into the village and then the mangroves lead to the boat station. Boats are P20/head and leaves with 8 passengers. Since it was the afternoon of a monday, I bet there is nobody else coming, so paid the P160. 

I must say the tires are an eyesore to the look of the island; Looking from within the island though, the coconuts, and the sand give it a cool feel. But then again, the water on it's coast is just not for swimming. Overall, the island is good enough for a picnic hangout (especially it don't cost a lot to get there). Entrance charge in the island is P15. 

I was thinking of staying overnight, but looking closely at the cottages, they were not really maintained. I thought I'd rather stay in Digos city, and check out what life is like there. 

There's 3 more days to spare before my flight back to Manila from Davao, and I have no pre-arranged plans.

From General Santos, my plan was to do a daytrip to Balut island, taking the overnight ferry, and then take the other overnight ferry in the following evening back to General Santos. Then again, I've done renovations, and feeding, and I am honestly, a little exhausted. My bag has gone too heavy with all the dirt, and some goodies I bought in the provinces I have been. 

At the same time, I regret doing quick peeks into nice places. As I told myself before, there's no need to rush. I'd rather enjoy it at my first visit, than come back and not have the same awe and excitement I normally get if only I have enough time during a first visit.

Hence, I decided to check out the Passig islet instead.

The Passig Islet in Davao Del Sur is a man made island. It's actually a protrusion that is below sea level during high tide. I was told that sand from nearby were pulled by boats and dumped into this part to serve as a station for fisheries monitoring. The then governor thought of utilizing it as well into tourism for additional revenues.

From the highway, a short walk into the village and then the mangroves lead to the boat station. Boats are P20/head and leaves with 8 passengers. Since it was the afternoon of a monday, I bet there is nobody else coming, so paid the P160. 

I must say the tires are an eyesore to the look of the island; Looking from within the island though, the coconuts, and the sand give it a cool feel. But then again, the water on it's coast is just not for swimming. Overall, the island is good enough for a picnic hangout (especially it don't cost a lot to get there). Entrance charge in the island is P15. 

I was thinking of staying overnight, but looking closely at the cottages, they were not really maintained. I thought I'd rather stay in Digos city, and check out what life is like there. 

Read More »

#SULOngSULU: Backpacks for the Patikul Kindergarten Students

After our renovation of the Tandu Dagmay Elementary School, we were asked to hold the distribution of the school supplies until the resumption of classes, so we can hand them straight to the kids. Everyone is just saying it might end up with people in favor of the one who will distribute it; the other party says the same to the other... frustrating.

The irresistible innocence of the kids stand for the hope there is for the future of SULU. It is a sad thought knowing these kids will end up in the same anarchy of their elders. They made me just want to complete it all; So, instead of just the classroom and their supplies, I thought about working on their backpacks too.

Currently, Ma'am Weng with Tropang Bangags and Ms Eula Faye Abdon have committed for several already, but we are looking to supply for 85 backpacks for the kids of Tandu Dagmay Primary School, as well as the kindergarten class of Patikul Higad Elementary School. Hopefully, getting a lot more so we can send for as many kids as possible in Patikul.


*Bag costing PHP100.00 (~US$2.25) around the Divisoria Market are more than enough. It's more about inspiring and reinforcing these kids to keep going to school.



Bags may be dropped off in the ff location:

CALOOCAN c/o Weng Bulaon
Neptune Celphone Accessories
3rd Floor, Caloocan Central Mall (a.k.a. North Mall; LRT Monumento Station northbound)
0925 755 5055


Hit Contact for any questions or concerns.

For Donations:

Via Bank of thePhilippine Islands

Bank Code: 010040018

Account Number: 2439 1558 52

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

 

Update:
The bags were distributed last June 03, 2015 to 289 kids (207 from Patikul Higad Elementary School, and 82 from Tandu Dagmay Primary School.) Because of the Excess school supplies, I have asked the captain of Tandu Bagua to bring me to another school whom we can provide school supplies and i was brought to this elementary school.

While we initially intended to provide only for the kindergarten kids since this is all we have in excess, the principal have requested provision for up to grade 6. I told him I will try. Luckily, there are friends who were willing to help provide for the school supplies and backpacks of these kids.


Thanks to:
Kristina Alingalan
Dhey Argawanon
Dong Mangiliman
Mobcom Telecom in Caloocan
Rowena Bulaon
June Encina
Nene Del Rosario

After our renovation of the Tandu Dagmay Elementary School, we were asked to hold the distribution of the school supplies until the resumption of classes, so we can hand them straight to the kids. Everyone is just saying it might end up with people in favor of the one who will distribute it; the other party says the same to the other... frustrating.

The irresistible innocence of the kids stand for the hope there is for the future of SULU. It is a sad thought knowing these kids will end up in the same anarchy of their elders. They made me just want to complete it all; So, instead of just the classroom and their supplies, I thought about working on their backpacks too.

Currently, Ma'am Weng with Tropang Bangags and Ms Eula Faye Abdon have committed for several already, but we are looking to supply for 85 backpacks for the kids of Tandu Dagmay Primary School, as well as the kindergarten class of Patikul Higad Elementary School. Hopefully, getting a lot more so we can send for as many kids as possible in Patikul.


*Bag costing PHP100.00 (~US$2.25) around the Divisoria Market are more than enough. It's more about inspiring and reinforcing these kids to keep going to school.



Bags may be dropped off in the ff location:

CALOOCAN c/o Weng Bulaon
Neptune Celphone Accessories
3rd Floor, Caloocan Central Mall (a.k.a. North Mall; LRT Monumento Station northbound)
0925 755 5055


Hit Contact for any questions or concerns.

For Donations:

Via Bank of thePhilippine Islands

Bank Code: 010040018

Account Number: 2439 1558 52

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

 

Update:
The bags were distributed last June 03, 2015 to 289 kids (207 from Patikul Higad Elementary School, and 82 from Tandu Dagmay Primary School.) Because of the Excess school supplies, I have asked the captain of Tandu Bagua to bring me to another school whom we can provide school supplies and i was brought to this elementary school.

While we initially intended to provide only for the kindergarten kids since this is all we have in excess, the principal have requested provision for up to grade 6. I told him I will try. Luckily, there are friends who were willing to help provide for the school supplies and backpacks of these kids.


Thanks to:
Kristina Alingalan
Dhey Argawanon
Dong Mangiliman
Mobcom Telecom in Caloocan
Rowena Bulaon
June Encina
Nene Del Rosario

Read More »

Pikit Coffee: My best Philippine Coffee So far

Just as much as the frustration of international travellers to Philippines, it is a regret that 'real' coffee is not a standard as it is in other countries; Rarely do you find people looking for real and organic coffee. The 3-in-1 instants have been an acquired taste, and to a regret, even some smaller restaurants sell only this acid junk.

To get real coffee, then, the solution is rather to settle on espresso coffee of famous brands where you pay rather for the store space, design, and for the length of time that customers tend to stay. Or, it would have been too gourmet that you could not even tell it is coffee at all.

While the Philippines was a big coffee producer longggg long time back, at the moment, only a few spots actually grow coffee: Benguet/Mountain Province, Batangas, Sulu, and what I’d like to tag as my favorite, Cotabato.

Batangas coffee is the perfect wake up coffee with its strong bitterness over thin solution. Benguet/Mountain Province coffee tend to be lax in flavor, but is great enough for those times where you'd just like to sip through something hot and bitter. It does not seem to affect (or at least much of) your adrenaline too.   For a while, the SULU (Kahwa) coffee has been my favorite until I got to visit a local in Datu Saudi, Maguindanao who served me their native coffee.

Compared to the Sulu coffee, this coffee is served with some thickness, and further, hence, with more flavor. The bitterness tends to be a bland vietnamese chocolatey coffee.

Want to try this coffee? Go to the LimbonisStore to purchase this coffee.

Just as much as the frustration of international travellers to Philippines, it is a regret that 'real' coffee is not a standard as it is in other countries; Rarely do you find people looking for real and organic coffee. The 3-in-1 instants have been an acquired taste, and to a regret, even some smaller restaurants sell only this acid junk.

To get real coffee, then, the solution is rather to settle on espresso coffee of famous brands where you pay rather for the store space, design, and for the length of time that customers tend to stay. Or, it would have been too gourmet that you could not even tell it is coffee at all.

While the Philippines was a big coffee producer longggg long time back, at the moment, only a few spots actually grow coffee: Benguet/Mountain Province, Batangas, Sulu, and what I’d like to tag as my favorite, Cotabato.

Batangas coffee is the perfect wake up coffee with its strong bitterness over thin solution. Benguet/Mountain Province coffee tend to be lax in flavor, but is great enough for those times where you'd just like to sip through something hot and bitter. It does not seem to affect (or at least much of) your adrenaline too.   For a while, the SULU (Kahwa) coffee has been my favorite until I got to visit a local in Datu Saudi, Maguindanao who served me their native coffee.

Compared to the Sulu coffee, this coffee is served with some thickness, and further, hence, with more flavor. The bitterness tends to be a bland vietnamese chocolatey coffee.

Want to try this coffee? Go to the LimbonisStore to purchase this coffee.

Read More »

SULOngSULU: Renovating the Tandu Dagmay Primary School in Tandu Bagua, Patikul, Sulu

I was looking for something to do for April and May, some volunteer work perhaps. I have called Tausug friends, and one has connected me to a Youth Group in Sulu, KBS.

I have asked the chair for their upcoming project that needed support, and was told about Tandu Dagmay Primary School in Patikul, Sulu.

I have been to Patikul, but only to Maubu and Quezon beach, but not really to this part; and certainly not been to any school in this gloomy town.

In order for me to raise a write up for the project, I needed a narration. And, now that I have completed the fixtures for the school, I realized, my write up, and the stories I have heard were nowhere complete. In fact, I could tell I am not even half the real story, as, upon my arrival, it is vacation time.

I have seen pictures of the school taken by the Youth group’s sister Photography Club but nothing beats seeing things in your eyes. Just getting to the place, way to the village itself would tell you what kind of facility I am about to work on. When I got to the school, I had to confirm if classes are seriously held in the rooms. Apparently, there is a lot more work than expected.

There is not enough seats for students on the first room, and nothing at all for the second room. Students squat on old sacks of rice while having classes. Some sit on the slippers that they come with to class.

As I finish cleaning up the rooms a while ago, I can’t help but smile at how much somehow we have changed this school in 8 days. Working on the windows at one day, a grade 4 kid who was attending school in the farther Gandusolis Elementary School asked me if i can put a grade 4 room too in the school. I felt like apart from that this school is very convenient, she is probably seeing it better than hers.

In this project, we changed the falling ceilings, repainted the walls, built new chairs and teacher’s tables, setup a door with lock and a school marker, added and repainted the old blackboards, fixed up shelves, curtains, sealed leaking roofs, and provided them new materials such as charts, donated school supplies,  wall clocks, and even broomsticks and trash bins.

To all those who donated and trusted that I can implement, especially one OFW in New Caledonia, Mr Ancajas who I never met, and FEU Cavite who did not reply to my initial email but rather surprised me later that they are ready to send the school supplies, as well as South Mansfield College who approached me without me sending an email or anything, to Gen E Sis who everytime I run out of funds on my projects is always on the rescue, and to the other friends who were great enough to share their abundance, many many thanks. I look forward to a day when each can come and visit this town, and this school, and see this school and the kids that they have helped.

I am saddened by the fact that schools, worse primary (Kindergarden, and so on) are neglegted in this area where the mind is your only resource; Though honestly, it don’t necessarily need to get as worse as what I am seeing if only we have more dedicated teachers who thinks as a community, and not as self.  The opportunities are so minimal that even volunteerism is rather employment and not a vision. Moreover, not only with teachers, but as I see, people in Sulu are generally withdrawn over the idea of improvement. The risks of movement and discovery reinforce the tendencies to contain. In my 8 days of stay, I regret to realize that progress in this area is gloomy. Her only hope are the coming generations of fresh minds, untarnished of violence and apathy and capable of realizing real change for growth and betterment.

To all the badjao kids who everytime I leave in the afternoon asks me if I am coming back tomorrow, I will be back.

Before leaving, I was insisting on getting to even more depressed corners of Patikul where I expect the schooling situation to be worse. In fact, I have been daring my colleagues to bring me next to the camp where I am expecting the school to be worse than a manger. Anyhow, I went to Patikul Higad Elementary School where their Kindergarden class is just as trashy. I will work this next for Patikul.

As much as I can handle, I will be working on fixing every rotting school in Patikul. Next Project will be a lot better. By now, I think I have just upgraded my self-declared occupation from Philanthropist to Visionary. 

By far, apart from that I was able to backpack for 8 months, this would have been the top achievement of my life. To be able to work on renovating a school at this age, this is certainly one of my stories to the new generations later.

One of the carpenters asked why I did not put my name in the Thanks To part of the school label, I told him, there is no greater reward for me than knowing within thyself how much I have worked to make this school become better.

I am currently gathering support for the provision of 85 bags for the students this coming school year; If anyone would like to help, let me know.

For Donations:

Via Bank of the Philippine Islands

Bank Code: 010040018

Account Number: 2439 1558 52

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

For in Kind donations:

c/o Weng Bulaon
Neptune Celphone Accessories
3rd Floor, Caloocan Central Mall (a.k.a. North Mall; LRT Monumento Station northbound)
0925 755 5055

NAME	PLEDGE	RECEIVED
TOTALS	Php47,969.42	Php52,949.42
MR W ANCAJAS	Php13,969.42	Php13,969.42
MR V REBUGIO	Php3,000.00	Php3,000.00
MS K CHU	Php10,000.00	Php10,000.00
MS A TOMAS	Php10,000.00	Php10,000.00
MS M CONCEPCION	Php500.00	Php500.00
MR ARGAWANON & FRIENDS	Php4,000.00	Php4,000.00
Racky Bernardo	Php2,000.00	Php2,000.00
JB Galedo	Php4,500.00	Php4,500.00
Loreen Ribates		Php2,000.00
Gen E Sis		Php2,000.00
Kimberly Singian		Php980.00
Ms Gracia Bangoy		Php1,000.00

Classification	Amount	Inclusions
Labor	5150	Carpenters, Porters, Etc
Logistics	7750	Transpo, Fuels, Coordination
Materials	23623	Hardware Materials, Equipment Rentals
Meals	7140
Miscellaneous	8040	Administration costs including documentation from Port, Room Fixtures such as curtains, wallclocks, etc
(blank)
Grand Total	51703
Balance	1246.42

I was looking for something to do for April and May, some volunteer work perhaps. I have called Tausug friends, and one has connected me to a Youth Group in Sulu, KBS.

I have asked the chair for their upcoming project that needed support, and was told about Tandu Dagmay Primary School in Patikul, Sulu.

I have been to Patikul, but only to Maubu and Quezon beach, but not really to this part; and certainly not been to any school in this gloomy town.

In order for me to raise a write up for the project, I needed a narration. And, now that I have completed the fixtures for the school, I realized, my write up, and the stories I have heard were nowhere complete. In fact, I could tell I am not even half the real story, as, upon my arrival, it is vacation time.

I have seen pictures of the school taken by the Youth group’s sister Photography Club but nothing beats seeing things in your eyes. Just getting to the place, way to the village itself would tell you what kind of facility I am about to work on. When I got to the school, I had to confirm if classes are seriously held in the rooms. Apparently, there is a lot more work than expected.

There is not enough seats for students on the first room, and nothing at all for the second room. Students squat on old sacks of rice while having classes. Some sit on the slippers that they come with to class.

As I finish cleaning up the rooms a while ago, I can’t help but smile at how much somehow we have changed this school in 8 days. Working on the windows at one day, a grade 4 kid who was attending school in the farther Gandusolis Elementary School asked me if i can put a grade 4 room too in the school. I felt like apart from that this school is very convenient, she is probably seeing it better than hers.

In this project, we changed the falling ceilings, repainted the walls, built new chairs and teacher’s tables, setup a door with lock and a school marker, added and repainted the old blackboards, fixed up shelves, curtains, sealed leaking roofs, and provided them new materials such as charts, donated school supplies,  wall clocks, and even broomsticks and trash bins.

To all those who donated and trusted that I can implement, especially one OFW in New Caledonia, Mr Ancajas who I never met, and FEU Cavite who did not reply to my initial email but rather surprised me later that they are ready to send the school supplies, as well as South Mansfield College who approached me without me sending an email or anything, to Gen E Sis who everytime I run out of funds on my projects is always on the rescue, and to the other friends who were great enough to share their abundance, many many thanks. I look forward to a day when each can come and visit this town, and this school, and see this school and the kids that they have helped.

I am saddened by the fact that schools, worse primary (Kindergarden, and so on) are neglegted in this area where the mind is your only resource; Though honestly, it don’t necessarily need to get as worse as what I am seeing if only we have more dedicated teachers who thinks as a community, and not as self.  The opportunities are so minimal that even volunteerism is rather employment and not a vision. Moreover, not only with teachers, but as I see, people in Sulu are generally withdrawn over the idea of improvement. The risks of movement and discovery reinforce the tendencies to contain. In my 8 days of stay, I regret to realize that progress in this area is gloomy. Her only hope are the coming generations of fresh minds, untarnished of violence and apathy and capable of realizing real change for growth and betterment.

To all the badjao kids who everytime I leave in the afternoon asks me if I am coming back tomorrow, I will be back.

Before leaving, I was insisting on getting to even more depressed corners of Patikul where I expect the schooling situation to be worse. In fact, I have been daring my colleagues to bring me next to the camp where I am expecting the school to be worse than a manger. Anyhow, I went to Patikul Higad Elementary School where their Kindergarden class is just as trashy. I will work this next for Patikul.

As much as I can handle, I will be working on fixing every rotting school in Patikul. Next Project will be a lot better. By now, I think I have just upgraded my self-declared occupation from Philanthropist to Visionary. 

By far, apart from that I was able to backpack for 8 months, this would have been the top achievement of my life. To be able to work on renovating a school at this age, this is certainly one of my stories to the new generations later.

One of the carpenters asked why I did not put my name in the Thanks To part of the school label, I told him, there is no greater reward for me than knowing within thyself how much I have worked to make this school become better.

I am currently gathering support for the provision of 85 bags for the students this coming school year; If anyone would like to help, let me know.

For Donations:

Via Bank of the Philippine Islands

Bank Code: 010040018

Account Number: 2439 1558 52

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

For in Kind donations:

c/o Weng Bulaon
Neptune Celphone Accessories
3rd Floor, Caloocan Central Mall (a.k.a. North Mall; LRT Monumento Station northbound)
0925 755 5055

NAME	PLEDGE	RECEIVED
TOTALS	Php47,969.42	Php52,949.42
MR W ANCAJAS	Php13,969.42	Php13,969.42
MR V REBUGIO	Php3,000.00	Php3,000.00
MS K CHU	Php10,000.00	Php10,000.00
MS A TOMAS	Php10,000.00	Php10,000.00
MS M CONCEPCION	Php500.00	Php500.00
MR ARGAWANON & FRIENDS	Php4,000.00	Php4,000.00
Racky Bernardo	Php2,000.00	Php2,000.00
JB Galedo	Php4,500.00	Php4,500.00
Loreen Ribates		Php2,000.00
Gen E Sis		Php2,000.00
Kimberly Singian		Php980.00
Ms Gracia Bangoy		Php1,000.00

Classification	Amount	Inclusions
Labor	5150	Carpenters, Porters, Etc
Logistics	7750	Transpo, Fuels, Coordination
Materials	23623	Hardware Materials, Equipment Rentals
Meals	7140
Miscellaneous	8040	Administration costs including documentation from Port, Room Fixtures such as curtains, wallclocks, etc
(blank)
Grand Total	51703
Balance	1246.42

Read More »