Philippines, a Finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature

As of this very moment, while doing this blog entry. There are only

154 days

10 hours

Left to Vote until 11.11.2011

Instead of burning you time over Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking sites; flirting with your fling, chatting with your boyfriend or girlfriend, much worst...STALKING someone you like.

WHY NOT....

Use your time in helping your COUNTRY win something worth winning...

One of our country's prime tourist destination in Palawan islands is one of the 28 FINALISTS for the NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE. Below is the list of the 28 Finalist: 

The UNDERGROUND RIVER in PALAWAN is pitted against such worthy opponents (if we can call such) with the likes of the Grand Canyon in USA, The Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the famous islands of Maldives. Let us help change the negative connotation that the Philippines is not a safe place to travel. Winning one of the spots in the New 7 Wonders of Nature will surely help the TOURISM industry of the country. If this happens, more influx of tourists will visit the country... As Dick Gordon once said, "TOURISM MEANS JOB". We are not only helping the Tourism industry, but we are also helping the Economy... Anyway, back to the main topic here. 

Below is the Page dedicated to the Phillippines:

So What are you guys waiting for? VOTE NOW!!!

Here is the link: http://www.new7wonders.com/vote-2

The Best Speech Ive Ever Read....

Over the years, I have been a fan of prominent political personalities in the Philippines, of their wit and their wisdom in dealing with things and most of all in presenting their speeches... I have read dozens of speeches from such Filipino's with the likes of:

President Ferdinand Marcos in his Mandate of Greatness Speech wherein he reiterated that:

"This nation can be great again. This I have said over and over. It is my articles of faith, and Divine Providence has willed that you and I can now translate this faith into deeds."

Ninoy Aquino's speech before the Asia Society wherein his very famous line was said:

"Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? Is he not a coward who would readily yield to any colonizer, be he foreign or home-grown? Is a Filipino more comfortable under an authoritarian leader because he does not want to be burdened with the freedom of choice? Is he unprepared or, worse, ill-suited for presidential or parliamentary democracy?

I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource

Mr. Marcos: Give us back our freedom or suffer the consequences of your arrogance.”

These people may have already been dead at present together with their idealism, perspectives and beliefs... But their speeches immortalized their being, up to this day we remember them for what they said and what they did....



Of all the speeches that I have read in my entire life... the best for me would be the one by Carlos P. Romulo entitled, "I Am A Filipino". It encompasses the greatness of our race, the struggles, the triumphs and even the downside moments... Reading such masterpiece enriches my mind, but most of all it touches the my very soul that reminds me to love myself and be proud to be a Filipino no matter what happens, I'll always be a Filipino...

Below is the excerpt of the speech that fueled my heart and passion to be a good citizen of this country:

I am a Filipino – inheritor of a glorious past, hostage to the uncertain future.  As such, I must prove equal to a two-fold task – the task of meeting my responsibility to the past, and the task of performing my obligation to the future.

I am sprung from a hardy race – child many generations removed of ancient Malayan pioneers. Across the centuries, the memory comes rushing back to me: of brown-skinned men putting out to sea in ships that were as frail as their hearts were stout.  Over the sea I see them come, borne upon the billowing wave and the whistling wind, carried upon the mighty swell of hope – hope in the free abundance of the new land that was to be their home and their children’s forever.

This is the land they sought and found.  Every inch of shore that their eyes first set upon, every hill and mountain that beckoned to them with a green and purple invitation, every mile of rolling plain that their view encompassed, every river and lake that promised a plentiful living and the fruitfulness of commerce, is a hollowed spot to me.

By the strength of their hearts and hands, by every right of law, human and divine, this land and all the appurtenances thereof – the black and fertile soil, the seas and lakes and rivers teeming with fish, the forests with their inexhaustible wealth in wild and timber, the mountains with their bowels swollen with minerals – the whole of this rich and happy land has been for centuries without number, the land of my fathers.  This land I received in trust from them, and in trust will pass it to my children, and so on until the world is no more.

I am a Filipino. In my blood runs the immortal seed of heroes – seed that flowered down the centuries in deeds of courage and defiance.  In my veins yet pulses the same hot blood that sent Lapulapu to battle against the alien foe, that drove Diego Silang and Dagohoy into rebellion against the foreign oppressor,

That seed is immortal.  It is the self-same seed that flowered in the heart of Jose Rizal that morning in Bagumbayan when a volley of shots put an end to all that was mortal of him and made his spirit deathless forever; the same that flowered in the hearts of Bonifacio in Balintawak, of Gregorio del Pilar at Tirad Pass, of Antonio Luna at Calumpit, that bloomed in flowers of frustration in the sad heart of Emilio Aguinaldo at Palanan, and yet burst forth royally again in the proud heart of Manuel L. Quezon when he stood at last on the threshold of ancient Malacanang Palace, in the symbolic act of possession and racial vindication.

The seed I bear within me is an immortal seed.  It is the mark of my manhood, the symbol of my dignity as a human being.  Like the seeds that were once buried in the tomb of Tutankhamen many thousands of years ago, it shall grow and flower and bear fruit again.  It is the insigne of my race, and my generation is but a stage in the unending search of my people for freedom and happiness.

I am a Filipino, child of the marriage of the East and the West.  The East, with its languor and mysticism, its passivity and endurance, was my mother, and my sire was the West that came thundering across the seas with the Cross and Sword and the Machine.  I  am of the East, an eager participant in its struggles for liberation from the imperialist yoke.  But I know also that the East must awake from its centuried sleep, shake off the lethargy that has bound its limbs, and start moving where destiny awaits.

For I, too, am of the West, and the vigorous peoples of the West have destroyed forever the peace and quiet that once were ours.  I can  no longer live, a being apart from those whose world now trembles to the roar of bomb and cannon shot.  For no man and no nation is an island, but a part of the main, and there is no longer any East and West – only individuals and nations making those momentous choices that are the hinges upon which history revolves.

At the vanguard of progress in this part of the world I stand – a forlorn figure in the eyes of some, but not one defeated and lost.  For through the thick, interlacing branches of habit and custom above me I have seen the light of the sun, and I know that it is good.  I have seen the light of justice and equality and freedom, my heart has been lifted by the vision of democracy, and I shall not rest until my land and my people shall have been blessed by these, beyond the power of any man or nation to subvert or destroy.

I am a Filipino, and this is my inheritance.  What pledge shall I give that I may prove worthy of my inheritance?  I shall give the pledge that has come ringing down the corridors of the centuries, and its hall be compounded of the joyous cries of my Malayan forebears when they first saw the contours of this land loom before their eyes, of the battle cries that have resounded in every field of combat from Mactan to Tirad Pass, of the voices of my people when they sing:

Land of the morning.

Child of the sun returning . . .

Ne’er shall invaders

Trample thy sacred shore.

Out of the lush green of these seven thousand isles, out of the heart-strings of sixteen million people all vibrating to one song, I shall weave the mighty fabric of my pledge.  Out  of the songs of the farmers at sunrise when they go to labor in the fields; out the sweat of the hard-bitten pioneers in Mal-ig and Koronadal; out of the silent endurance of stevedores at the piers and the ominous grumbling of peasants in Pampanga; out of the first cries of babies newly born and the lullabies that mothers sing; out of crashing of gears and the whine of turbines in the factories; out of the crunch of ploughs upturning the earth; out of the limitless patience of teachers in the classrooms and doctors in the clinics; out of the tramp of soldiers marching, I shall make the pattern of my pledge:

I am a Filipino born of freedom, and I shall not rest until freedom shall have been added unto my inheritance – for myself and my children’s – forever.

The Beauty of the Songbird

Since its her 25th year in the Showbiz Industry... as an avid fan, it is my responsibility to create a masterpiece for my one and only SONGBIRD, Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez...

Ever since I was a child, I have always been an aficionado of the Disney Princesses because they possess and hold an incomparable beauty and glamour. Each Disney Princess has there own exceptional persona and character that really rendered my interests in them.  However I was not only stricken with their beauty and glamour but also I learned to love the different stories that each princess have gone through. Such as Princess Aurora’s 100 years of deep sleep, Princess Ariel’s venture to human hood, Princess Snow White’s apple poisoning and most of all the story of Cinderella. Every story made me realized the other side of beauty, its true sense and meaning.

            What is it? Are there objective standards of beauty? Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder?  Must a person be beautiful to be considered great?  What is the effect of experiencing beauty in life? I have chosen a very interesting topic, as I believe that her story encompasses my understanding of what Beauty really is. 

Before we even heard and knew of her Cinderella story, there was just her phenomenal voice of which was never heard of in the Philippine music history. It became all the more mind-blowing, astonishing and extraordinary when one beheld the singer, a young woman whose delicate frame and features contradict her fragile aura. The infirmity vanishes from the first note of a song and in its place, an astounding blend of deep emotion and perceptible splendor is experienced. That beauty is Regine Velasquez.

                        photo: pinoyexchange.com

Regine also known affectionately as the Asia's Songbird around the world is a true story of rags to riches. Few people who have heard her amazing voice can say that they have never heard her equally inspiring life story. Much like a fairy tale, her humble beginnings in Bulacan have not dismayed this naturally talented singer in surpassing the performance calibers of formally trained singers of her generation. She started to sing at the age of four and upon discovering her incredible singing talent her parents supported her love for music. At age ten, Regine could be found standing neck-deep in the beach singing. It was to train her to use her diaphragm in singing and to strengthen her lungs. Teresita her mom taught her how to evoke emotion while Mang Gerry her dad helped her develop a technique in reaching high notes. She started joining singing contests at the age of ten but triumph was not always on her side. She entered 200 singing contests but only won 67 of them. She got tired of joining such contests but this didn’t stop her because it is their source of income. Her dad quit his job just to support her and be with her in every singing contest she joined. This was her motivation; she strived harder and harder to attain what she has now and what she has achieved. The year 1989 was the start of her booming career especially after winning the Asia Pacific Singing Contest, which was held in Hong Kong at the same year. This contest gave her the coveted title of Asia’s Songbird that gave her celebrity status and made her an Asian superstar. That same year, she collaborated a song with Jacky Cheung entitled "In Love With You," which reached the MTV Asia and Channel V’s top 20 music charts. She has also collaborated with artists such as Paul Anka, David Hasselhoff, 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Mandy Moore, Ronan Keating, Stephen Bishop, Jim Brickman, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne, Dave Koz , Lea Salonga, Grasshopper, Coco Lee, Michel Legrand, David Pomeranz, Eduardo Capetillo and Billy Crawford. More blessings came along her way; some of her albums had good response from neighbor Asian countries achieving triple platinum, 2 double platinum and 2 golds from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. Year after year, Regine gets better by being versatile in her craft. She started to juggle her singing, film, television, and advertising careers. Both foreign and local fans supported her all this years and a manifestation of this are the awards she has received; 2 star awards, 1 Famas, 2 MTV Asia, 3 MTV Phil, 11 Awit awards, 1 Katha Awards, 9 aliw awards, 15 Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation. As a fan, I believe that she as a performer and person empowers and allows others to dream, just like what she did before. This is the best part about her. Every time she performs onstage, every time she sings a song, she reminds all of us that there was a time when it seemed like no one wanted to listen. But it is that past that makes her who she is today; strong, generous, human, pained and blessed.

                                photo:abante.com.ph

            People might think that her achievements swollen her so much pride and that she has the “diva” attitude or that she became very conceited and self righteous but I can attest that Regine is still the humble girl from Bulacan. How can I say this? Regine staged numerous benefit concerts for different foundations such as the Bantay Bata and GMA ‘s Kapuso foundation. Also, her MTV Asia special entitled Speak Your Mind was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Awards. The production was highly commended for its agendum on child welfare, documenting the plight of homeless children swarming the streets of Metro Manila, in an effort to protect and safeguard their rights. Also, she has helped a lot of foundations such as the Singapore's National Kidney Foundation, the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philippines' Bridges School for Special Children. That is why, for me Regine is at her greatest every time she decides to be small. When she displays her vulnerability and her homegrown valiance, she shimmers like a red diamond. Everything in her life blended so well, it was like everything was meant for her.

She has uncountable awards and honors but we see that her charms and graces have all blossomed along with her talent, but her beauty and talent is not all about the prestigious awards, honors, fame, and wealth that she acquired. Regine embodies a beauty that is seen only in few people. Her physical beauty is admired by her legions of fans all around the globe, from her gorgeous face, expressive eyes, sexy lips and a body of a goddess. But what makes Asia’s Songbird more attractive? More dazzling? And more divine? It’s her inner beauty, her benign heart, her down to earth persona, her unconditional love to the Filipino people, her patriotism to her motherland, her love and passion for her craft, her being a true person and her just being simply beautiful in her own right. That makes her beautiful! That is the Beauty of a Songbird!