Land of The Howling Winds

Catanduanes, Is and Isn't

2011-08-26T12:17:00.002+08:00

I was thinking what should I write for my next blog this morning. I really can't decide what to write. So to be able to make something out of nothing, I went to facebook and search for Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda. This is my source of the pictures which I put here. As I was browsing the result of the search I saw a link which featured Catanduanes. The title was Catanduanes: Beyond the howling wind. I got intrigue of the title so I visited the link and read the article. Before I started reading, my eyes were caught by the beautiful pictures taken from the province. Then I said to myself, "This is what I've been looking for." So without any hesitation I started writing this article for today. I got inspired by what I saw and I want to share it to you guys.

This is the beautiful Puraran Beach in Baras, Catanduanes which is also the best surfing area in the province. White sand and crystal clear, blue water is waiting for you there.

The "Majestic Waves" of Puraran Beach which have been stumbled upon by the Europeans who have visited the place.This was taken at Tilod, a few coves away from the beach.

Batag Beach with its natural archway. This is a coral-strewn beach.

Wall climbing has been a popular activity in Twin Rocks Beach Resort in Igang, Virac, Catanduanes.

The Spanish-era Bato Church in Bato, Catanduanes. The oldest church in the province. You can also look at it in my other post named Bato. I put some pictures there taken from Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda.

Some of the local handicrafts in the province.

The PAG-ASA weather observatory located at the top of a mountain in Bato, Catanduanes. This made the province a reference point for typhoons. I guess the name "Land of the Howling Winds" could originated from this since the province is always hit by strong typhoons.

Source: Philippines Star

Photo credits: Philippine Star

Island at Night

2011-08-18T14:20:00.000+08:00

The view is beautiful indeed and very neat. This picture is taken somewhere in the beach where the opposite side has different night lights which created the colorful picturesque of the place. Plus the factor of the camera used optimize the result. Nature is also beautiful at night not just in the day. More of the photos to come in the coming days. Stay tuned in my blog.

The ISO setting (taken from the greek word "iso" which means equal) is an artificial spin-off of film photography when it used to be an indicator of just how much AgBr (Silver Bromide, the yellow compound that turns black upon exposure to light) has been incorporated into the film. The higher the ISO, the more AgBr, the more sensitive to light. With today's digital cameras, the ISO setting has been retained. But this time, instead of a chemical emulsion, the rating is a measure of the degree of sensitivity of the light sensors. So, if you're taking a picture of a darkly lit subject, you increase the ISO setting. But in so doing, specks of non-existent pixels will emerge in your finished product. Hence, the grainy (film) or pixelated (digital) appearance. (Word of advice: always use the lowest possible ISO rating for best results.)

Source: Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda

Photo Credits: Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda

Heavily Loaded

2011-08-18T13:20:00.000+08:00

Here a jeepney is fully loaded by abaca fibers and is on its way to the capital town of Virac to be sold to an abaca exporter. This amount of abaca is worth the blood and sweat of the farmers. This scene is only in the province. You can never see these in other places. Only in Catanduanes!

Abaca is a primary source of income for some of the farmers in the province. The plant is the source of the abaca fiber which fuels the province economy. Abaca industry in the province is critical because it usually depends on the weather if there will be a good harvest. That's why every time there is a storm coming, their livelihood is greatly affected. It takes months for the abaca to recover and another few months before the farmers could harvest the fiber from the stem of the plant.

Photo Credits: Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda

The Truths Behind the Quirino Grandstand Hostage Taking

2010-08-26T08:27:00.000+08:00

According to the news, the SWAT Team trained first on how they will execute the assault on the bus. IN the training, they were able to break the door and window of the bus and they easily pinpointed the hostage taker. When the real assault that night was commenced, they followed what they trained a while ago. Their positions where perfect and they were able to go near the bus immediately. With their sledgehammer and axe, they tried to break the window and the door. The thing they didn't expect is that the window and the door are made of fiber glass so it made their job difficult until the hostage taker fired the unit in front of the bus and they were not expecting it from the suspect. The lack of tools to break the door and window. They attempted to throw tear gas inside the bus but they don't have any gas mask and night vision goggle to infiltrate the bus easily. Also, as you everyone knows, there was a police, who was later named as Yabut, went near the bus without wearing any vest and helmet to protect himself. The SWAT suffered different criticism from different social networking sites. The name of SWAT itself was renamed as "Sayang Wala Akong Training", Sugod Wait Atras Tago" and etc.

The other factor that hindered the success of the negotiation was the person whom Mendoza was talking in his cellular phone. This man was the one responsible for telling Mendoza to open the television in order to watch what the police are doing to his brother.

After the said bloodbath, PNP Director Jesus Versoza ordered the relieve from position of the ground commander Gen. Magpantay.

Quirino Grandstand Hostage Taking

2010-08-24T11:56:00.000+08:00

I was going home after a hell day in the school. I was down since I was not confident to pass both of my exams on that day. I thought of surfing the net for a while to ease myself from the stress and the bad mood. Before I can even take a seat in front of the computer, the live footage of a hostage taking in Quirino Grandstand caught my attention. I did not know the whole story why there was a hostage taking but deep inside I know that there will be something bad that will happen.

The more I watch the live airing of TV Patrol of the hostage taking the more I cope up with the whole story until I learned that the hostage taker was Captain Rolando Mendoza and the guy being held by the police near the area of hostage taking was his brother. After a several minutes, the hostage taker fired his gun and that alarmed the police. The driver of the bus at that time was trying to escape and after a few minutes the driver jumped off the bus through the window and ran as fast as he can. He then told the media that all the people in the bus were dead. This triggered the police to assault the bus in order to rescue the hostages. But the assault on the bus resulted in a more tragic event. The police tried to open the door of the bus by smashing it with axe and sledgehammer. First, there was no response inside the bus so they continued on ransacking the door but after a while Mendoza fired at the police and the operation was interfered. This made it difficult for the police to infiltrate the bus. There have been gun fight in the scene until the police finally infiltrated the bus.

There were still survivors in the bus and they jumped off the bus quickly as soon as the rescuers entered the bus. The police confirmed the dead body of dismissed Mendoza and two other dead bodies inside the bus. There was also a bystander, 10 yrs old boy who was hit by a bullet and he was immediately brought to the hospital. After this bloodbath in Quirino the whole world has witnessed another killings in the country that sent shivers to spine of all viewers.

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2010-05-20T08:56:00.001+08:00

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Bato

2010-05-13T15:31:00.000+08:00

I went home to Bicol last May 9, 2010 for the election, in my hometown in the little island of Catanduanes, the smallest municipality, none other than Bato. Bato is 8kms from Virac(capital town). It has a plenty of tourist spots like Sakahon Beach( a white sand beach in Bote, Bato, Catanduanes which is currently being developed by the mayor itself, Mayor Leo Rodriguez), Maribina Falls, Batalay Beach( a black sand beach which is a good place for swimming and family outing), Batalay Shrine, and the last but not the least, the Bato Church itself. Bato has also a bigger population compared to other neighboring municipalities regardless of its size. An interesting fact about Bato is that it has the most number of professionals in the province relative to its population. It is also densely populated compared to some of its neighboring municipalities.

Batalay Beach

A perfect place for swimming and family outing. An interesting thing about this beach is that you can see the Mayon Volcano of Albay from here.

Batalay Shrine

A historical shrine in the province.

Maribina Falls

A beautiful falls where you can swim in its cool and freshwater from the mountain.

Bato Church

An old church built during the Spanish Period. According to history, it took 50 years to build the church.

Photo Credits: Catanduanes, Islang Kayganda

Election

2010-05-13T14:08:00.000+08:00

Last May 10 was first time to exercise my right of suffrage. This was also the first automated national election in the history of Philippine Election. There have been many issues about the automation because of so many controversies the COMELEC have been into. Some of the problems about the automation was the possibility of automated cheating(relates to the Hello Garci scandal); the failure of the PICOS machines during the testing before the election; the indelible ink used was questioned because the winner of the bid to supply the ink during the election was the company who lose in the bidding of the PICOS machine. Also, the effectiveness of the ink was not trusted so they tested it and that ends the issue about it.

I vote in the province where there is rampant vote buying during election. Almost, all of the officials are giving money to the voters just to vote them in the local post. I wonder when this vote buying started in my beloved province. The novice and the veteran candidates were all giving money to win a seat in the municipal and provincial post. They have ward leaders who make the list of voters in a certain barangay, then they have the runners whose task were to distribute the money to voters that were on the list. They have to sign a piece of paper that proves that they have received the money of the politician. I know you will ask what the people in my province did. They just accept the money of the politicians because they said that they didn't ask for it. There were cases where the voter accepted the money from both rival candidates of a mayoral position. I wonder where these politicians got those bags of money. The answer to that is obvious and I don't even have to ask you readers about it.

I was excited to vote because my vote will determine the future of the country. The rivalries of the candidates are so intense in both the national and local positions. They said in their campaigns that they are competent enough to lead the country and change the current condition the country is into. They said that they will create an ideal government for the country and its people. For me, an ideal government is a government who can address the fiscal crisis of the country; obliterate corruption of some government officials; improve the quality of education and health services to help the minimum wage earners and below it; help the domestic economy of the country by reducing the dependency to external sources in order to sustain the growth and development of the country; and finish the issue of the arm conflicts in Mindanao. Through all these efforts, the rebels may realize that what they have been doing was not helping the people but instead they are adding to the burden of the poor.

I hope that after the new president and sets of officials have been proclaimed, the Philippines will soon realize change in every aspects where it has a low rating.