Of the, I think, 9 weddings I have been to in The Philippines, this was only the 2nd one I have attended where the bride was NOT pregnant, the only wedding besides my own.
Wolfram Virtualworks, 67 Gaerlan-Pabayo Streets, Cagayan de Oro City, 9000, The Philippines, landline (088) 858-3699, cell 0917-706-3040), did the videography, the same company that did the video for last years’s Australian Interplast Operation with the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro.
I can’t see that there would be many people that would watch 16 minutes or so of videos of a baby unless they are related to him.
I am very fortunate to have such a healthy, playful and happy baby. I am also fortunate to have a large extended family that makes sure he always gets attention. He’s also a very big baby (for the Philippines).
Race will be 7 months old on August 7, 2008. My main concerns about him are about discipline, disciplining him, as he gets older and is able to roam freely and begin to do things he shouldn’t. I hope not much of that responsibility will fall upon me, except for serious incidents, and I don’t expect any of those for at least a few years.
A few days before July 17, 2008, Marissa advised me that there was a Mother Club Rotary Event in “Pine Hills, Bukidnon”. I tried to look the place up on the Internet and couldn’t find anything. I remember the last time I went to Malaybalay and Valencia that there was some kind of National Park that had waterfalls and such and without any real reason assumed the trip was to see some park.
Marissa also advised me that several other Rotarians would be attending along with their Ann’s. As it turns out, I was the only Rotarian Club of Cagayan de Oro member to attend. The rest of the entourage were Ann’s and and son of one of the members.
The lead vehicle was ex-vice mayor of Cagayan de Oro, Tony Soriano’s Fortuner,which was loaded to the max, so one of the other Anns elected to ride with us. We met at McDonald’s Limketkia, on the morning of January 17, 2008, for a quick breakfast before heading out.
From Limketkai Mall it is 30 kilometers to the rurn off to Camp Philips, which is not a military camp as I had thought, but instead it is virtually a town set up by Delmonte to run all their agrigultural endeavors in the area and there were many houses in the camp allocated to junior executives in the company.
It was 13 kilomenters from the main highway to Camp Philips. Then another 17 kilomenters of rough gravel and rock road to Pine Hills, which is not a park, but a subdivision. Here’s a short video of the road to Pine Hills from Camp Phillips.
Tony Soriano had built a house there, essentially out in the middle of nowhere, as a retreat house, a weekend, or vacation house.
The house had two bedrooms downstairs, and a loft, which could be used for a bedroom. There was one CR (comfort room = bathroom) upstairs, and one in each downstairs bedroom, and one additoinal one just off the kitchen. I have a 6-bedroom house and 6 CR’s. This one had bedrooms, all with CRs plus an extra CR, which impressed me at least a little bit. The view from the house was short of spectacular, but impressive all the same.
We were there for the house blessing. A Dominican priest did the blessing. We carried lit candles around the house, following him as he read some prayers and sprinkled Holy Water about the house. You can see the video of the actual blessing, below.
I was advised that they had bought the lot for PHP 1000 per square meter, when it had first opened, but that the price per square meter was now PHP 1500.
One hectare is 10,000 square meters or 100 meters by 100 meters,and is 2.47 acres. I’ll round that off to 2.5 acres per hectare for use in this blog.
The Philippines is considered a developing nation, and it is thought of as a poor country by World International standards, but let’s calculate this out. The current rate of exchange is about 44 pesos to 1 USD.
1500 pesos per square meter comes to about $340,000 USD per hectare, or about $136K USD per acre. And this is out in the middle of nowhere, Bukidnon. Land is not cheap in The Philippines. Which goes a long way in explaining why people buy such small lots.
In other places in The Philippines, I mean rural areas, but nice locations, like with beach-front or ocean side property sell for PHP 5000 per square meter on up to tens of thousands of pesos per square meter. I was just astounded by the price or real estate here.
Despite the fact that Tony Soriano’s house is only 60 Km from Limketkai mall, it takes a good 90 minutes to get there. We averaged about 25 kph from Camp Philips to Pine Hills beause of the rough road.
The location is ideal for reading, introspection, or spending quality time with kids without the distractions of a big and growing metropolis like Cagayan de Oro.
The subdivision has a nice clubhouse for large activities and also a “retreat house” that could easily accomodate a couple of hundred people. There’s also a small fishing pond. Security appeared to be on the serious side. Well-armed, scrutinizing, and they demonstrated they knew how to salute.
On July 3, 2008, Marissa and I attended the Rotary District 3870 induction of officers at Mallberry Business Suites Hotel. Ric Gabaon, the President of The Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro was inducted as president of our club, and Rhia Rita Y Abalos was inducted as the first female Governor in the 25 year history of Rotary District 3870.
In attendance, along with other distinguished quests, as guest speakers were Cagayan de Oro Mayor Tinnex Jaraula, Rufus Rodriguez, the Congressman of the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro (East of the Cagayan de Oro River).
Fellow Rotarians, Anns, dignataries, distinguished guests, and friends of Rotary, maayong gabii sa tanan.
It has been a good year for our club, the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro, for our community, for Rotary District 3870, and for Rotary International as a whole.
Before we go into “prayer” mode, let me instill in you a couple of ideas. Ideas that may require your intellectual attention. A very short sermon about service.
150 years ago, Charles Darwin wrote “On the Origin of Species”, the single most controversial publication of all time, a book which still causes reverberations throughout the World.
In 1861, the British Association for the Advancement of Science devoted a special session at its annual conference to it. Darwin himself was not in attendance, but one of his sharpest critics said:
“Darwin should have just put his facts before us and let them rest.”
Darwin wrote back:
About thirty years ago there was much talk that geologists ought only to observe and not theorize, and I well remember someone saying that at this rate a man might as well go into a gravel-pit and count the pebbles and describe their colors. How odd it is that anyone should not see that all observations must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service.
This has become to be known as “Darwin’s Dictum”, as identified by the final clause “all observations must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service.”
The mere facts never speak for themselves. For the facts to mean anything they must be interpreted by the colored lens of opinion.
To state it another way: To be of any service, one must be for or against some view. To be without an opinion, is to provide no service.
My mother has always been a fount of wisdom. She bestowed upon me this one pearl when I was a child, she said:
“One cook can serve a family, but six cooks can serve an army”
What she meant was that a group of people, even a small group of people, working together toward a common goal, can accomplish exponentially more than any individual working alone.
The best cooks follow recipes and/or create new ones. Recipes are plans of action. They are best made by cooks with well-seasoned opinions, with the intention of serving others.
As Rotarians we put service above self. We come together as small groups called clubs. The clubs come together to form districts, and the districts come together to form Rotary International. Our numbers are more than 1.2 million. We are enough cooks to serve The World.
With these thoughts in mind, please, let us bow our heads or simply close our eyes and recognize the presence of the Lord, who is with us now.
Lord, I hope, and I pray:
To be of service to thee, let us all be bestowed with good ideas, and well-founded, well-seasoned opinions. Let us all contribute as your team of cooks, working together, following recipes or creating new ones, so that we can all be of service. And, so that one year from now as we come together again to usher in another Rotary year we can again say,
It has been a good year for our club, for our community, for Rotary District 3870, for Rotary International, and The World is a better place because we, as Rotarians, have made a difference, we have cooked up something good, and we have been of service. Malambo-on nga servicio!
Marissa earned herself a Rotary Ann Presidential Citation at our last regular meeting of the Rotary year of the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro, “The Mother Club”, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last April. She earned the citation because of her participation in numerous Rotary Club Projects, given to her By Rotary Ann President Bern Gabaon.
Marissa was also elected to be Director of Public Relations for the Rotary Anns, for the upcoming Rotary Year 2008-2009 that begins July 1.
I tend to be a night owl, and since most projects begin around or just after dawn, when I am most likely to be in my deepest state of sleep, I rarely get to attend such projects.
However, I also was awarded a Presidential Citation by Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro President Ed Palad, for bringing in a new member, Gus Rodano. Getting Gus to join Cagayan de Oro Rotary Mother Club was not difficult, because his wife was a Rotary Club scholar of the Mother Club itself. So, while I did not have to do a lot to earn the citation, it was well deserved for bringing in a Rotary Ann, one that the Club years before had respected enough to finance her education at Xavier University, and I am sure Gus will make almost as good a Rotarian as his lovely wife will be a good Rotary Ann.
Gus was appointed to be Chairman of the Rotary Club Website Committee.
Leo Aba provided the entertainment for the evening with a rendition of two songs. I was able to catch the second song, “She’s a Lady”. 5 MB Video of Leo Aba’s She’s a Lady.
Engineer Bienvenido “Jong” V. Batar, Jr., Assistant General Manager of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD), had previously been elected as Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro Director of International Service, but because the COWD has its board meetings on Thursdays, it would make it difficult for him to attend the Rotary board meetings, thus he resigned the position and I was elected to the position in his stead.
(Thanks, Jong, for getting my water problem fixed. We had a water problem and someone from COWD told us the problem was in the service line that runs from the water meter to the mainline and that we would have to replace it. That did not make sense to me. If the problem was on the COWD side of the meter, then COWD should replace the line. So, I called Jong and asked him about this, and he said it didn’t make sense either. A few hours later our water meter got cleaned and the problem disappeared. Thanks, Jong.)
Many electrical poles are being replaced throughout Cagayan today, so Marissa and I, along with some other family members, sought refuge at one of the local hotels that has their own generator, and we could wait out the brownout in the comfort of the air-conditioned room, or sit in the shady breeze between the bay and the swimming pool.
After Marissa and I got married, we lived in hotels for nearly 3 months as we honeymooned around The Philippines.
Harbor Lights instills that honeymoon feeling, but this time we have a baby with us. Seeking air-conditioned shelter was more for Marissa’s and Race’s comfort that just my own. I would have been happy to have spent the afternoon on my Honda 2007 XRM, driving in the countryside, but Race’s face was flushed in the heat and I thought it better to keep him comfortable.
I am not a catholic, having been raised Methodist, a protestant, but having married a catholic Filipina, and having decided to live for at least the next few years in The Philippines, and raise my son as a filipino, to inoculate in him the values of this culture, it is only fitting that he be christened a catholic.
We christened my son as a Catholic on Sunday, May 25, 2008, at the St. Agustine’s Catholic Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro City.
The reception was held at the Oro de Tropical Resort, which is a new resort in Cagayan de Oro.
It is still under construction, but has a magnificent swimming pool.
Ninangs (God Mothers) are: Kathlyn Gorospe, Angelu Bandera, Cheny Pallugna, Irene Udasco, Lia Fernando, Michelle Valles, Sorraine Guilingging, Maria Teresa Sarraga, Maria Luz Trampe, and Winnie Amores.
Ninongs (God Fathers) are: Gus Rodano, Joe Pallugna, Kumar Jainani, Milky Castaneres, Gilbert Miranda, Stephan York Valles, Reniel Penados, Elmer Taboada, Jeedo Aquino, Rex Cortez and Alex Tabuan, Jr.
There were some important people that wanted to be Ninang or Ninong to my son, but I left the choice up to my wife. Hopefully, they’ll all be accommodated when we have our next child.
Prior the Race’s christening we took him to Agfa Photo Studio in Divisoria for some professionally done photos.
When Marissa went to have the christening invitations made, the counter person asked her where she got the photo of the baby angel, did she get the photo from Google Images?
Please, let us bow or heads or simply close our eyes and allow the presence of the Lord to be with each and every one of us.
We are all of this Earth and to the Earth we will all return. During our brief stay upon this beautiful planet that is the Lord’s creation some people wander aimlessly, some people do more, and some, like us, Rotarians, do much more, we make a difference, between what is or was, and what can be.
In Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 26 it says: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,
This verse has long been used to justify man’s utter domination over nature, but I would like to suggest, and I pray, that the Lord’s giving dominion of the Earth to mankind is not for mankind to be a ruthless exploiting tyrant, crushing and subjugating Nature to man’s will, but rather to be the Lord’s caretaker, responsible managers of this tiny planet and of all living things that the Lord placed here and entrusted with us, including not only our fellow man, but all the lowly animals and plants that share this planet with us.
Even a bird will keep its nest clean, but mankind is wrecking God’s creation, that which the Lord has entrusted to us. As Rotarians, let us recognize that we are leaders in this stewardship of the Earth, care-takers of the Earth, each and every one of us, we provide guidance and set good examples to our community.
Our responsibilities are never ending and always with us. It is neither simple nor easy to be a good Rotarian.
We thank thee Lord for thou bountiful gifts, and we go forth as your good and trusted stewards. Let us do no harm, but only good for thee.
