Filipina Soul

Bacolod City in Negros Occidental celebrates October like no other in the Philippines, when the city celebrates its Charter Day. It’s one whole month of gaiety and festivals, street dancing and competition, food and a charged atmosphere of fun.
The month-long activities culminates with the MassKara Festival, a street dancing parade through the main highway of Bacolod by locals and tourists wearing elaborately decorated masks and costumes. This video montage captures the festival’s fun-factor:

Now one of the most sought after festivals in the Philippines for its 10-scale decibel of fun, the MassKara was born out of adversity and crisis. …read more

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In the previous episode of Survivor Philippines, the members of the newly formed Chalam tribe worked on their joint camp. The strategizing began almost immediately after the merger, with the former Jarakay, seeking to weaken the loyalties of the former Naak to one another.
As Episode 33, which aired on October 29, 2008, opened, Kaye recounted her chat with Marlon to JC. Marlon had told her that there was no alliance in the new tribe. But at that point, Jace had approached Marlon and Kaye and cut their conversation short. JC said that Jace will not be able to get …read more

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On the previous episode of Survivor Philippines, the new tribe Chalam was formed from the merger of Naak and Jarakay.
In Episode 32, which aired on October 28, 2008, the focus of the new tribe was on improving the old Jarakay camp to accommodate 10 people. Cris, Marlon, Kiko and Rob went back to the Naak camp to haul the shelter to its new location. Marlon was all out in trying to prove to Naak that he was a good person to have around. In his eagerness to help, he was cut on the hand by piece of bamboo, and went …read more

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The decision to come home to the Philippines when a family member dies has got to be one of the most difficult to make. The expense of airfares often stop someone from really wanting to be there for the family, and yet we so want to see our departed loved ones.
I didn’t think this would fly, but St. Peter Memorial Chapels hit on an innovative way for families to view their beloved’s wake – via the internet, using IP (internet protocol) cameras.
It’s part of the chapel’s package when you use their services. the IP phone is online 24 …read more

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Last week, at the end of episode 30 of Survivor Philipines, it was hinted that this would be the week of the merger between tribes Naak and Jarakay.
Episode 31, which aired on October 27, 2008, opened with Naak discussing the Jarakay tribe. Kiko said that he valued a tribe member’s positive attitude toward the tribe more than his usefulness.
After the Tribal Council
The guys of Jarakay talked about how Jace had looked much thinner. Kaye and Zita said that Nikki had wanted to leave the island and might have asked her tribe mates to vote her out.

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Let’s take a detour to welcome b5media’s new business portal, Bizzia!

Bizzia is the one-stop destination for business information, insights and news from b5media’s 30 business blogs.
Following the successful launch of b5media’s first portal, Starked.com, Bizzia covers themes such as finance, leadership, e-commerce, small business, sales and marketing. Bringing together the latest news coverage on breaking topics and popular business discussions, Bizzia makes it easy to access the specific themes a reader is interested in, as well as discover unique business perspectives around other topics.

Read the press release of the Bizzia launch.

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Flooding is not unusual in the Philippines. From the streets of Manila to the country fields, it’s not uncommon to wade in knee-deep water to get to where you’re going.
But have you seen rice that actually grows with the floods? Check this out – researchers from my old employment – the International Rice Research Institute at Los Banos – are inspecting some varieties of rice. Well, if that’s NOT interesting enough, perhaps the person outside the boat, who has to swim to make sure his rice field is doing well.

image: flickr

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[Editor's note: I already recapped this episode last week, but that post seemed to have gotten lost. So, if you've read about this episode already, I apologize.]
Episode 30 of Survivor Philippines opened with Naak jubilant after they won the last immunity challenge.
JC, Cris, and Rob celebrated with a bath in the ocean, scrubbing each other’s backs. The only thing they had to worry about was how many clams to gather under “the romantic setting of the sunset”, according to Rob.
Back at Jarakay, Marlon said that one of the reasons they lost was that they were uneasy with the full …read more

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There is no denying just how much our economy depends on OFW and their remittances. They’re the ones who keep our country treading above the financial murk that has plague the modern world.
Tony Lopez at the Manila Times makes an interesting observation that the overseas Filipino workers is now considered the new middle class. OFWs have real assets – land, vehicle for rent, house, savings – which would provide them with better cushion against the gloomy economy.
Now, if forecasts are true, then remittances from OFWs are expected to rise up to 10% in 2009 compared to this year’s …read more

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We occasionally debate over whether we should trade our cable TV for a satellite dish. Maybe these new offerings from the DISH network will make the switch sweeter.
The DISH Network wants to reach out to more Filipinos in the U.S. with its expanded Filipino-targeted programming. The network has 4 new channels and 2 packages for Pinoys who want to keep in touch with their motherland through TV.
The four new Filipino channels available to subscribers are:

GMA Pinoy TV, which offers news, game shows, sitcoms, talk shows and soap operas
GMA Life TV, covering the Filipino lifestyle and interests
DZBB, Filipino music from AM …read more

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