A win-win proposition for the coal power plant debate in Sarangani

I originally posted this as a comment to one of the blogs I encountered a couple of days ago. But somehow my comment got lost along the way and never got itself published, so I might as well just put it in my own blog. The comment, of course, was a lot shorter than this.

The context was the frequent brownouts (power curtailments) this region of Mindanao is currently experiencing. Some sectors are forecasting dire times ahead as the energy needs of Mindanao are climbing rapidly for power supply to catchup; hence the need for more investments in power infrastructures -- e.g. power plants.

Now, we all know that a coal-fired power plant is to be put up in Barangay Kamanga in the town of Maasim, Sarangani Province. Project proponent Conal Holdings Corp. (a company partly owned by the local Alcantara Group), in trying to allay fears of environmental havoc, has been assuring the public that a cleaner technology will be utilized for the plant's operations. Environmentalists and their allies, of course, are not about to buy the idea. Needless to say, two opposing sectors are currently slugging it out to win the hearts and minds of the public and the government who, in the final analysis, have the final say whether the power plant pushes through or not.

Last Sunday, I came across a feature article in the Inquirer Mindanao section of PDI, which contained one of the most interesting and witty proposals which, for me, can finally end the debate. This came from one Chris Dearne, an English conservationist based in General Santos City, who was quoted in the article as having "...dared the company (Conal Holdings) to put up the facility (coal power plant) side by side with the sprawling aquamarine farms of the Alcantara family in Alabel if it believes that it is really environmentally safe." (A. Zonio. "Saving Sarangani Bay's coral reefs" Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24(104): A19, March 22, 2009).

I know the above proposition may have been thrown in sarcasm, but don't you think it's a fairly brilliant idea?

Blue Haven in Banga, South Cotabato

Two weeks ago, I and my household decided to escape the early summer heat and have our Sunday lunch out. It was easy for me to decide which place to go. Having already tried many places within the city, I thought, why not revisit Blue Haven Resort and Durian Park in the town of Banga? It's been a while since the last time.


Blue Haven is not your typical pretentious resort. Its beauty is in its simplicity; its sprawling grounds being located in a very idyllic setting -- in the middle of vast ricefields just outside Banga proper, its surroundings lined with durian and other fruit and wood trees.


The resort has a picnic area with kiosks that can accommodate groups of varied sizes, and a mid-sized irregularly shaped pool in the middle mainly for the use of kids. On one side is a canopied space for wedding and baptismal receptions and similar parties; and on the other is a covered and raised pavilion for the more serious stuff like meetings and conferences.


But if one wants a more serene atmosphere, he or she can always retreat to one of three lodging cabins, two of which offer a good green (or golden, depending on the season) view of the surrounding ricefields from the shared veranda. The cabins are a new feature of Blue Haven which was absent during my last visit to the place. According to Ms. Gemma Young-Paciente, the other half of the couple who owns the place (the other being Mr. Armand G. Paciente), they hope to add more lodging space in the near future to accommodate growing demand for it.


Blue Haven's front desk hall houses the restaurant where patrons can indulge on food and drinks while sitting and dining on exquisitely designed hardwood chairs and tables.


My family, being less adventurous than I am, was not up to tasting some of the unique food that the restaurant has to offer. For lunch, we just opted for the common yet nonetheless satisfying chopsuey and fried chicken. We also did not pass up the chance to feast on the "native chicken" tinola, a kind of food which one cannot always have in the city. (Piece of advice: to fully enjoy this dish you may have to request for a longer cooking time as native chicken, as we all know, has meat that's very "hard to please".)


The resort's menu, however, lists food that can face up to the challenge of patrons with more discriminating tastes. The inihaw na hito (grilled catfish), pritong kokak (fried toad) and some quail and rabbit dishes are just some which can make one's visit in Blue Haven a great food trip.


The fresh durian fruit was missed however as it was not season. Blessing in disguise, as the refreshing durian shake proved to be a worthy substitute.


Blue Haven Resort and Durian Park is located at Barangay Liwanay (Barrio Uno), Banga, South Cotabato. If you are going westward along the Allah Valley highway, you can't miss its signage to your right just before you exit Banga towards the town of Surallah. For reservations and other inquiries, you may call Gemma or Armand at (083) 239-2616.

Pvt S. Ryan, Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach

Pvt S. Ryan, Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach
Originally uploaded by Ariel Marco

I am trying out a new (or shall I say, a newly-found) feature of Flickr , which supposedly allows me to blog about a photo in my own photostream and have the post fed directly into my site in Blogger.

So let me share something about the photo posted here. [I think the photo is going to be posted above this text, if I am not mistaken].

This was taken from a famous beach resort in Samal Island, Davao. It is an original (as opposed to a Photoshopped) black and white digital photo I took using a point-and-shoot Canon. I took the opportunity to play with my cam and shoot while waiting for our swim as there was a four-hour low tide ahead of us when we visited the resort.

The photo shows my 9-year old kid Ivan playing out his fantasy as an Allied soldier in World War II; this time as a fallen US Army Ranger in Omaha Beach during the 1944 invasion of Normandy. Ivan himself titled the photo. If you have seen Spielberg's masterpiece Saving Private Ryan, then you know who Private S. Ryan is. No, he is not the one played by Matt Damon in the movie.

The prop that is a GI helmet in the foreground is an authentic Korean War-vintage; given to Ivan as a gift by his Ninong Lom Barranco. On our way to Samal, two Korean tourists took notice of the headgear and, when told of its history, one readily wore it and posed for a photo with Ivan. The Korean then smilingly told us he is from the North of the 38th parallel.

Change we can; change I did

Blame it on Barack Obama; his charisma so affecting it made a non-American like me imbibe his campaign slogan (A Change We Can Believe In) very literally. Blame it on the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers' Summit; wanting to apply my learnings from the event, I just thought changing my blog's title should be on top of the must-do list.

And what timing is more perfect than re-titling my blog Redeemed Spirit on the day when we, the living, annually redeem the spirits of our dead. Never mind if All Souls Day actually falls on November 2nd. The mix-up is forgivable; there is no telling of the difference anyway. I wish Congress will just legislate for Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day to be collectively known as The Days of the Dead (and perhaps declare this a holiday for all ghost employees of government). The Mexicans, they call this very same period "Los Dias de los Muertos".

Back to the blog re-titling case. Well, blame nothing. It simply occurred to me when I was writing my take (excerpts appended here) on the just-concluded grand eyeball of Mindanao bloggers. After all, being a newbie in blogging I have been constantly experimenting on the look and content of my blog, so why not change the title as well; see if it "fits" better. It is not much of a change anyway as Daxi Weida remains as its main author.

It also helped that a fellow blogger whom I've met for the first time at MBS2 (despite her being my co-alumni of UP Kutang Bato), also changed her primary blog's name after the summit. I share her reluctance in attributing the move to MBS2's influence, but I have to admit there are values that I hold that were "redeemed" as a result of my participation in the Summit.

These are just a few of the realizations (for a newbie like me, there are many) I learned from the Summit:

• There is a need to counter-balance all the negative publicity Mindanao has been getting from traditional media; and the Mindanao bloggers are among our best options.

• A blogger does not have to showcase all that are bright and beautiful about Mindanao to let everyone know that many things are indeed bright and beautiful in Mindanao. This one has always been a position of mine. I am happy that this was reaffirmed during the Summit. The overarching need to blog about the good side of Mindanao was qualified as blogging aggressively, truthfully and responsibly. We do not deny that there is war, but there is more to war than the exchange of bullets and mortar fires; "there are stories of resilience, stories of hope, stories of dreams, stories of humanity" that come out of evacuation sites [Walter Balane]. We also do not deny that besides war there are issues that we face on poverty, hunger, corruption and (mis) governance, environmental concerns and even traffic problems. Which for me make Mindanao no different from the rest of society for other people, local and foreign, to avoid. And by objectively blogging about these Brooklyn side of Mindanao, a blogger in fact is furthering the advocacy for the eventual fulfillment of progress this land has been promised eons ago.
  

• Blogging the Mindanao consciousness means blogging truthfully and objectively on any thing that matter for a blogger from/of Mindanao.

• I finally was able put living faces to many of the Mindanao bloggers whom i only got to read in the blogosphere; most of these faces are young; and these bloggers got talent!
  

• One can actually make a living out of blogging; and I am not just talking here of entrepreneurial blogs.

• There are limits to the extent where digital photos should be enhanced (read: Photoshopped) and posted to portray a real, actual, or true situation. This realization I had after a short chat with noted Mindanao photo-journalist Bobby Timonera. Prior to our little exchange, I wanted to bring to the floor the question about the "ethics" of Photoshop-ing or digitally enhancing photos. This question, and all others that relate to it, has always nagged me every time I get to see astoundingly beautiful pictures in magazines or in the internet. I found the question timely to ask after Bobby talked about photo-blogging and related how he "shifted" from being a sensationalist to becoming a photographer of the good, the beautiful, and real side of Mindanao. It was rather unfortunate that the question never did get to the floor (the moderator had to traffic forum time), for Bobby himself admitted it was a very interesting subject matter to discuss.

To borrow from my friend Jinky: "Everyday is a learning. . . sometimes we fail, sometimes we succeed! What's important is, we continue to emerge as a learned individual. I came out from MBS2 a learned individual". When we learn, we change. Change we can; change I did. Welcome once again to Redeemed Spirit.

Paaman:

View from my seat at the Summit

Took my own share of souls, too :)

The 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit

The second edition of the biggest gathering of webloggers of/from Mindanao is on, and it's going to happen on October 25-26 this year in General Santos City.

Why am I going to the SUMMIT?

Because it's there...

Daghang Salamat. Ayo-ayo. Kitakits

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mindanawon, Paminawon Intawon:
Blogging the Mindanao Consciousness

Thank you to the following for making 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit possible:

CO-PRESENTERS:
City Mayor Pedro B. Acharon, Jr.
Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio
NOKIA
Department of Tourism XII
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
Bariles Republic
Gen. Santos City Tourism Association
SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers

GOLD SPONSORS:
Friendster
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AMA Computer Learning Center
Grab A Crab Restaurant and Coffee Club 101
Gregoria Printing Press

SILVER SPONSORS:
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Family Country Hotel & Convention Center
East Asia Royale Hotel
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BRONZE SPONSORS
GenSan Sale.Com
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Forest Lake San Carlos Park
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Techykid.Com
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Blue Media Communications
International Container Terminal Services, Inc
Shalom Wizard Academy
Dreamworld Travel and Tours
Sta. Cruz Seafoods, Inc.
Dellosa Design Build Services
Kristan Bookstore
DOLE Philippines
Husky Bus Lines
Shakey's Pizza
Family Brand Sardines
Gaisano Mall of GenSan
Chowking - KCC
Jollibee National Highway
Procter & Gamble Philis., Inc
Mega Sardines

BJE: Bangsamoro Jambo-Jumbo Encore

Tam bo li de say de moi ya
Hey Jambo Jumbo
Way to parti o we're goin'
O, Jambali
Tam bo li de say de moi ya
Yeah, Jambo Jumbo!
[All Night Long, Lionel Richie]

We were going to party all night long, or so we thought. Or did i really hope i was going to party? No, not really.

During my recent stop at General Santos City, I randomly picked two kababayans and asked them of their (brief) thoughts about the BJE or Bangsa Moro Juridical Entity (and the buzz that surrounds it). I got two contrasting responses which i honestly kind of expected: one expressed optimism about the BJE as a small but significant step towards real autonomy for the Muslims in Mindanao; while the other easily lambasted its basic premises and denounced the outcome of the GRP-MILF talks as a sellout. One was a Muslim whom I last met 8 years ago; the other a non-Muslim (not sure if he was Christian) who works at a Gensan-based regional government office.

It would matter very little who of the two said what. What is clear is that this recent brouhaha about the BJE, ancestral domain, etc. has again demonstrated the division among Filipinos especially Mindanaoans on questions that relate to peace in Mindanao and the Moro (Filipino Muslim) struggle for self-determination in this part of the country.

It is understandable when wounds have been inflicted deep into the marrow and spirit. These wounds do not heal, not in the next century. And as if the religious and cultural differences (of the peoples in this part of the world) are not enough, add to these the insensitivity and paranoia that are expressed to one another either brought about by sheer ignorance of history or borne out of the itch to display misplaced bravado (i.e. kinsay isog?!)

It does not help when some ambiguously ludicrous "MOA on ancestral domain" suddenly pops out of the talks between government and the armed Moros; and government letting the scoop-hungry media do the briefing for the public.

It does not help when national politicians (some have been to Mindanao only during the election campaigns) suddenly carp about national integrity being undermined as if there is integrity at all in this part of the country in its current state. The ARMM region continues to be among the country's poorest, and is where democracy gets its biggest insults during elections.

It does not help when local warlords suddenly cry foul about a development they themselves admit they do not completely understand; and irresponsibly rally people around a war-mongering cause.

It does not help when one talks peace and holds a gun. Need we remind our self-proclaimed peacemakers (again for the second twice!) about the validity of such oft-repeated dichotomy? Like now that seemingly the MOA on the BJE and Ancestral Domain is on its way into the trashcan, expect the same rampage by the warring sectors like what happened in 2001 and in many other times before that.

It's back to square one for the poor Mindanaoan.