MY APOLOGIES

The Viganon Online, through a published solicitation in this site embarked on a project entitled “Viganon Online Pamaskong Handog 2005” (http://viganon-online.blogspot.com/2005/12/viganon-online-pamaskong-handog-2005.html) spear-headed by myself (viganon).

I wish to apologize to those who contributed for my failure to execute the project as intended. I simply failed.

However, I would like to assure the benevolent contributors that except for some amount (P4,200) which was charged as Overages as a result of fund shortfall from previous projects, the amount of P27,543.23 remains in the account kept for Viganon Online by Annaliza Tolod (as temporary treasurer).

Below is the detail of contributions/donations received as per email from Anna:

Good daY PO.

Pasensya na po kung hindi ako nakakapag update, busy
na rin po kasi ako. Kayo na po muna bahala mag post ng
mga updates. Thank you, regards.

Donations received as of 01/12/06

12/17 (Saudi) 5 650.00
12/19 (less overage) -4200.00
12/21 (USA) 21 060.00
12/27 (c/o junM) 4 500.00

= Php 27 543.23

There are suggestions on what to do about and “maximize” the effect of the above funds through email from our yahoo.group thread. Still, the donors have the “last say” in its disposition. I shall await for your feedbacks on the matter.

Thank you very much for your support .

Going for the Jugular

( A reprint from the INQ7.net "Mixed Media" by Sylvia L. Mayuga with emailed permission from the contributing guest columnist Louie Fernandez lfern945@optonline.net as requested by Gus Tutanes)

When the GMA-Garci crisis began last summer, in the flood of e-mailed responses and letters to the editor was this patriot's letter from the Fil-American Louie Fernandez. Practical, philosophical and comical on the modern Filipino experience, his Re-inventing the Pinoy suggests a way to go for the jugular of our racial impasse nowhere else but inside ourselves:

Every Pinoy should strive to be the best at whatever he does -- the best carpenter, writer, basurero, engineer, ombudsman, and yes even the best kurakot politician or government functionary. Fear not. Since good triumphs over evil, the best ombudsman will soon enough catch even the best grafters and get them shot, everyone of them. Yes, sir!

With every Pinoy at every level striving for excellence or at least dutifully doing what is required of them, our current decrepit society will be up to snuff and humming in no time.

Dyahe, pare.

Jean Paul Sartre once said that words are loaded pistols. Indeed, they are also like shards of glass that burrow deep into the psyche and bleed the victim to a slow lingering death.

I propose that the word dyahe, a legacy of the colonial past that continues to subjugate us mentally, not be uttered again and thrown into the dustbin. Dyahe or nakakahiya impedes initiative, risk-taking, innovation and progress. This is not to say we are at liberty to transgress and be walanghiya. All I am saying is that if we break no law and hurt no one, who cares what others say? If they call us aggressive, we should consider it a compliment, for we are being part of the solution. We are simply being confident and self-reliant.

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A Speech to Inspire Filipinos

( A speech delivered by John Gokonwei during the Ateneo Graduation 2004 and forwarded by Don Rodulfo)

I wish I were one of you today, instead of a 77-year-old man, giving a speech you will probably forget when you wake up from your hangover tomorrow.You may be surprised I feel this way. Many of you are feeling fearful and apprehensive about your future. You are thinking that, perhaps, your Ateneo diploma will not mean a whole lot in the future in a country with too many problems. And you are probably right. You are thinking that our country is slipping - no, sliding. Again, you may be right.

Twenty years ago, we were at par with countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Today, we are left way behind. You know the facts.

Twenty years ago, the per capita income of the Filipino was 1,000 US dollars. Today, it's 1,100 dollars. That's a growth of only ten percent in twenty years. Meanwhile, Thailand's per capita income today is double ours; Malaysia, triple ours; and Singapore, almost twenty times ours.

With globalization coming, you know it is even more urgent to wake up. Trade barriers are falling, which means we will have to compete harder. In the new world, entrepreneurs will be forced to invest their money where it is most efficient. And that is not necessarily in the Philippines. Even for Filipino entrepreneurs, that can be the case.

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Joke! Joke! Joke!

Ms Brooks, I SHOULD BE IN 3RD GRADE
(contributed by Alvis Pulvinar)


A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked, "Harry, what's your problem?"

Harry answered, "I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the 3rd grade too!"

Ms. Brooks had had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.

While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told Ms.Brooks he would give the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed. Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and
he agreed to take the test.

Principal: "What is 3 x 3?"
Harry: "9."
Principal: "What is 6 x 6?"
Harry: "36."

And so it went with every question the principal thought a 3rd grader should know. The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, "I think Harry can go to the 3rd grade."

Ms. Brooks says to the principal, "Let me ask him some questions." The principal and Harry both agreed.

Ms. Brooks asks, "What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?"
Harry, after a moment: "Legs."
Ms. Brooks: "What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?" The Principal's eyes got big!
Harry replied: "Pockets."
Ms. Brooks: "What does a dog do that a man steps into?
Harry: "Pants."
Ms. Brooks: What starts with a C, ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin, whitish liquid?"
The Principal's starting sweating!
Harry: "Coconut."
The principal sat forward with his mouth hanging open.
Ms. Brooks: "What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky?"
The principal's eyes opened really wide and before he could stop the answer, Harry replied, "Bubble gum."
Ms. Brooks: "What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?"
Harry: "Shake hands."
The principal was trembling.
Ms. Brooks: "What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' that means a lot of heat and excitement?"
Harry: "Firetruck."
The principal breathed a sigh of relief and told the teacher, "Put Harry in the fifth-grade, I got the last seven
questions wrong...... "

Catanduanes BEACH Property -- FOR SALE OR LEASE

The unique beach property (pics below) is open for absolute sale or long term lease. Owned by Atty Prospero Tablizo, the beach property is located in Igang, Virac, Catanduanes which is about 12 kms from downtown Virac or 6 kms from the Virac Airport accessible through partially concreted roads.

The property is composed of an Islet with an area of about .8ha (8,000sqm), a flat area and a cove of about 1ha (10,000sqm) that opens to the vast Pacific Ocean.

The cove has about a 100mtrs of whitesand beach. The sorrounding hills within the property can accomodate about 20 regular-sized beach houses overlooking the Virac Pier.

From the islet to the beach front is a lagoon about a kilometer wide that abounds with corals.

It is located about 800 meters from a Japanese-developed beach resort and a kilometer away from the nearest residential area. Hence, it has ideal privacy. Other nearby beach properties can be acquired and ideal for beach housing development and golfing range.

Adjacent to the property is another more than 200 meters of whitesand beach along the road right-of-way from the municipal road junction that can be acquired through lease from the government.

For further information and/or to request .mpeg version of the pics shown below, kindly email Jun Mariano