ASIA SONGBIRD UNFORGETTABLE CONCERT

Chinese passport

The Philippines said Wednesday it would refuse to stamp Chinese passports containing a map showing most of the China South Sea as belonging to China, as it stepped up protests over the controversial move.

The new passports have provoked angry reactions from around the region, with Vietnam, Taiwan and India all expressing their objections amid an ongoing row over Beijing's territorial claims.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that immigration personnel would stamp "a separate visa application form" instead of the Chinese passport.

"Through this action, the Philippines reinforces its protest against China's excessive claim over almost the entire South China Sea," the department said.

Stamping the Chinese passport could be "misconstrued" as legitimising China's claim over vast parts of the South China Sea, which are also claimed in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

President Benigno Aquino's spokesman also said Wednesday the Philippines welcomed a recent US State Department statement that it planned to raise concerns over the new Chinese passports with China.

Last week, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario sent Beijing a formal protest letter, calling the passport maps "an excessive declaration of maritime space in violation of international law".

Foreign governments became aware this month that China had begun issuing passports with maps showing a "nine-dash line" that runs almost to the Philippine and Malaysian coasts.

Vietnam has also refused to stamp the passports while India, angered that the map claims Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai China as Chinese territory, is stamping its own map on visas given to Chinese visitors.

jenifer lopez DANCE AGAIN TOUR in MANILA

ERICH GONZALES

THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

TOURISTS SPOT

TARSIER IN BOHOL

UNDERGROUND RIVER IN PALAWAN

BANAUE RICE TERRACES

                 THE ISLAND OF BORACAY

CULTURES AND TRADITIONS

This article refers to the tradition of the natives of Ifugao in the Cordillera Mountain ranges (Philippines) particularly the “Tuwali” tribe for an adult who had died of illness. Persons who have died of violence, drowned or otherwise the death is not due to illness are accorded different specific rituals. Different type of ritual is also given to dead Infants and women who had died while giving birth. The burial traditions of early Ifugaos have several variations. This is due to the fact that early farming villages are separated by the vast mountain range and rice fields. It is literally the kinship system that keeps a distinct family or clan in one abode or adjacent farming villages. Hence, intermarriages within the village or adjacent villages are not remote. It is further aggravated by warring communities which hampers the free travel to other villages or hamlets without the worry of being harmed or a chance target of headhunting expeditions. This explains also the fact that the “tuwali” dialect alone, not mentioning the other Ifugao tribes, differs in dialect terminologies, jargons and intonations. While there are several variations on how the tradition is practiced, it practically emanated from one ethnological group.

MANSAKA TRIBES

The Mansaka tribes are found in the provinces of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, the tribe of Mansaka specifically dwells in the areas of Manat Valley, the Maragusan Valley, the Hijo River Valley, and the seacoasts of Kingking, Maco, Kwambog, Hijo, Tagum, Libuganon, Tuganay, Ising, and Panabo. The etymology of the name “Mansaka” is derived from the words “man” meaning “first” and “saka” meaning “to ascend”. Therefore, Mansaka means “the first people to ascend the mountains or go upstream”.

Generally with fair with bridged noses, brown hair, and oval faces, some scholars have classified the Mansaka as a distinctive subgroup of Mandaya. In 1972 the population estimate of the Mansaka was around 4,000. The Mandaya-Mansaka group of languages is often classified under the Manuvu linguistic group. This includes the dialects of the Tagacaolo of Davao del Sur, Davaoeno of Davao City, Mansaka or Mandaya of Davao del Norte, and Isamal of Samal Island, linguistically speaking.

The Ati, a Negrito ethnic group, are mostly found in Western and Central Visayas. Large concentrations are found in Aklan, Capiz, Antique, and Iloilo on Panay Island, and the biggest group is in Iloilo. There are also Ati populations on the islands of Guimaras and Negros (comprising Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental). Few Atis still speak their traditional language, as it has been replaced by Kinary-a, which is spoken in Antique and some parts of Iloilo.

Atis cultivate a variety of crops for their livelihood. Tobacco is bartered for the products of their Visayan neighbors. During September and October, they work at the sugar plantations of Christian landowners. Other means of subsistence are hunting, fishing, handicrafts, and bow-and-arrow making; working as household help and midwives; and practicing herbal medicine as herbolarios.

FOODS

PANSIT

BALOT



LUMPIA

LECHON BABOY

festivals!!

senseless

its more FUN in TAGUM CITY

Durian Festival

 

SAINT PEDRO CALUNGSOD

The image of the second Filipino saint, Pedro Calungsod, arrived in Manila Thursday afternoon.
The image arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 4:45 p.m. via Cathay Pacific flight CX919 from Hong Kong.
The image was blessed by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday during the canonization rites at the Vatican.
St. Calungsod's caravan will visit the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, then visit the Diocese of Pasig, Antipolo, Cubao, Parañaque, and Novaliches.
It will be in Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo, as well as the Villamor Air Base during the All Saints’ Day weekend.
The image will then be flown to Vigan before going to Pangasinan, Pampanga and Malolos and back to Manila, where a mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle.
Tagle was recently named cardinal by the Pope.
The caravan will also make stops in Caloocan, Imus, Lipa, Lucena, Daet, Naga, and Legaspi before a grand thanksgiving celebration in Cebu on November 30.

Obama Advocates

 

 

 

For the past few days, all of us have been properly focused on one of the worst storms of our lifetimes. We mourn those who were lost. And we pledge to stand with those whose lives have been turned upside down for as long as it takes them to recover and rebuild.

Because when hardship hits, America is at its best. The petty differences that consume us in normal times quickly melt away. There are no Democrats or Republicans during a storm -- only fellow Americans. That's how we get through the most trying times: together.

 

President Barack Obama

Four years ago, we were mired in two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Together, we've battled our way back. The war in Iraq is over, Osama bin Laden is dead, and our heroes are coming home. Our businesses have created nearly 5 and a half million new jobs in the last two and half years. Home values and 401(k)s are rising. We are less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last 20 years. And the American auto industry is back.

We're not there yet. But we've made real progress. And on Tuesday, America will get to choose between two fundamentally different visions of what makes America strong.

Effects Of Hurricane SANDY