SM Green Film Festival features Environment Themed Film "Sangtuwaryo"

With the opening of a new academic year, SM Supermalls once again rolls out its Green Film Festival, a project by SM Prime Holdings which provides free screening of environment-themed films for students.

Spreading the environmental advocacy using the visual medium, SM aims to show the beauty of the planet, to teach the value of conserving man's shared resources and to plan and practice environmental efforts towards a sustainable future. Free screenings are available every third Monday and Tuesday of the month at SM Cinema 2 from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

This year, SM features Sangtuwaryo, a 2009 film by Cebuano artists about blast fishing aims to prod local government units to establish marine sanctuaries.

Sangtuwaryo is an 80-minute film revolving around the life of a poor but scrupulous fisherman who finds himself in a compromising position by engaging in blast fishing when his son falls ill.

The film was written by Corazon Rosales-Jayma and directed by Archie Modequillo and was produced by the Law of Nature Foundation and the Visayan Sea Squadron headed by lawyer Tony Oposa, a 2009 Ramon Magsaysay awardee. Part of the film shows the efforts of residents of Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental, in establishing a marine sanctuary.

Also featured in the festival are the documentaries are State of the Planet and Project Noel.

For bookings and inquiries, public schools may contact 297.6998.

Mindanao Cosplay Summit 2010

I don't really watch anime that much because of time constraints. I don't even have time for watching telenovelas and teleseryes because there's so much to get done and my baby wants my attention always when I'm home.

Hubby is a huge fan of animes. He even memorized some of the anime song lyrics even if it's Chinese or Japanese or...really I don't understand some of the languages.LOLz.

Last weekend, October 29-30 was a big event for the anime and online game fanatics. There was a cosplay, a Mindanao-wide and there was so much fun. It was dubbed as Mindanao Cosplay Summit (MCS) held at SM Event Center and it was a two-day Affair. I love seeing cos plays because I get awed by the different costumes and I love the creativity of the cos-players.

At the start, the audience was entertained by a band. All they sang are songs by animes. I was not able to relate to it, honestly. Nevertheless, I was having fun seeing the lively performance composed of all-girls band. I forget their name. I like the energy of their vocalist. LOLz.

Manobo Mass, Anyone?

I joined the First Friday mass today. The mass that I attend during first Friday of the month is usually in the English language. When the entrance song was sang, it was in acapella, there was no accompaniment. They sound good, anyways, but I kept on figuring out what language the priest is using. He does not look a foreigner either. One thing for sure, I never heard of it before.

The priest then introduced himself, he belongs to the SVD (Society of Divine Word) order. He's a missionary who has been living for 16 long years in a Manobo community in Agusan del Sur educating the people there and building a school. That's when I figured the dialect he's using is a Manobo language. The choir was composed of Manobo children and they sang the Eucharist songs in the Manobo language flawlessly. There were also few songs sang in the English language and that's when I appreciate more their singing prowess. They sound like angels singing from nowhere making every word of the song and the meaning of it live and linger in your heart.

His sermon was striking, compelling and heartwarming. He told of a story of one Manobo family. When the wife gave birth to her daughter, the husband went to his relative and sold his daughter, the newly born one for only 1,000 pesos! The heartless buyer, just got the baby away from the weak mother who just recently given birth. The sad part is, the money was spent by the father in drinking spree. The elder sister, who is now his student in the school he founded always drool in tears whenever she remembers about her younger sister whom she never know the whereabouts now.

He made the choir sang in the Manobo language and after singing, he explained the message of the song to us since we did not understand the language. It tells about the predicament that lumads are experiencing in the highlands. They feel deserted, unloved and unaccepted by the community of other dominant groups of people who inhabit the island of Mindanao or Philippines. Is it because they lack education? Is it because they live in the highlands, literally far from the comforts that life could offer in the plains? Are our hearts plastic, empty and indifferent from what they feel? They are also Filipinos just like us. They also have feelings just like us.

Friends, what do you feel when you see a lumad? How do you treat them? Do you feel you are superior over them? Have you encountered one of them? Share with me your thoughts....

Remembering Kadayawan 2010

Kadayawan 2010 was a huge successful event. It culminated with the floral float parade. In the parade you can see floats decorated with fruits, orchids and other flowers of different varieties. Here are photos of beautiful floats during the Kadayawan festival.

Happy weekend everyone!

Brokenshire Resort and Convention Center

I attended a seminar workshop and the communication letter says it will be held at Brokenshire Resort and Convention Center. Though, Brokenshire is just my "neighbor", I've really not explored the latest developments in the place. I've been to their hospital and school but never been to their resort and convention center. I rode a taxi when I went there and dropped at the school thinking that the convention center is within the school premises. But when I asked the guard, he pointed me to the exit direction and so I have to walk several meters from the school. When I arrived, I was wowed by the place. It's beautiful! Here are some photos:

Beautiful Designs

These are beautiful designs by a Dabawenya designer Ann Pamintuan. I have taken this photos in an exhibit few months ago.

the designer, Ann Pamintuan

Maria Antonieta "Ann" Tiukinhoy Pamintuan is a Davao-based jewelry and furniture designer. She made her name by making jewelries made not from stones but from vines, roots, flowers, petals. Westerners were awed by how she transformed these organic and ephemeral materials into lasting objects of beauty just by welding. Ann also has evolved into a world class furniture designer earning various accolades from top international design institutions. Here highly-acclaimed works are sold in top centers of designs like New York, Sweden, London, and Japan. She is the first Asian woman designer to be included in the prestigious International Design Yearbook ( in 2002 and 2004).