Foot and Fire

Submersion of Panay Bukidnons: A Call for Salvage Aside from the imminent fact that the Jalaur River Dam shall submerge portions of their ancestral domain, the Panay Bukidnon's cultural heritage also faces submersion Sunburn, scratches from blades of grasses, and scars from insect bites are among the souvenirs I and a friend got from our three-day immersion with the Panay Bukidnons of Brgy. Garangan, Calinog, Iloilo. We slept and lived with them in order to hear stories about stars and gather recipes of their traditional cooking but we ended up hearing more pressing matters, about the dam project and the struggle to keep the heritage vis-a-vis the daily needs for survival. On our second morning, we traversed the mountainside planted among others with coffee and cacao trees owned by our host family, with the end of reaching Jalaur River where a megadam project is to be implemented. Along the way, we traversed at least ten live streams including Karangayan and Bukay Ng...

PINTADOS is Passi's brand Pintados, Passi's festival pride Having been to Passi when it just became a city a little over ten years ago has placed me in a privileged position to say that Passi has gone a long way in transforming herself from a rural and slow economic zone into an urban and bustling one. Just about 45-minutes from Iloilo City by Ceres Bus, Passi City is worth one's while. There are round-the-clock internet stations and bakeshops.  Some chill-out places can also be found as well as business establishments supplying every household essential from eggs to fruits to meat products. Banks and schools still serve and more are coming for sure. Meanwhile, agricultural products such as livestocks, sugarcane and the ever sweet pineapples from the city are staples that impressed visitors and by-passers who head to the nearby province of Capiz. Pineapples, Passi's world-class produce Pinya, Passi's delightful year-round agricultural produce Passi Ci...