Ang bakasyon ko nitong nakalipas na Mahal na Araw ay puno ng mga pagbabalik-tanaw sa mga nakalipas na panahon at ng mga paalalang sa sumapit na buwan ng Marso, ako rin, isang taon bago mag-tatlumpu ay — ika nga ni Markku –  nawawala na sa kalendaryo.

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The Bathala Caves will be featured tonight in GMA-7’s Born to Be Wild, which airs after Saksi.

Dr. Ferds Recio will explore the Bathala Caves, which are located in Barangay Ipil, Santa Cruz, Marinduque–the place where I grew up.

Below is the teaser for the show from GMANews.tv. I have also posted some of our pictures at the Bathala Caves during our 2005 vacation in Marinduque.

This Wednesday, Born to be Wild goes into the dark and the deep to encounter creatures rarely seen by humans.

Doc Ferds explores the mystical Bathala Cave in Marinduque Island which is home to huge python snakes. Deep inside the cave, he studies reptile behavior and discovers why these creatures chose this cavern as their shelter.

In a province long-exploited by mining activities, Bathala Cave remains one of the last few sanctuaries for wildlife.

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Na-disappoint daw ang mga kababayan ko sa Marinduque nang hindi sinipot ni Pangulong Arroyo ang pagdiriwang ng ika-107 anibersaryo ng Battle of Pulang Lupa sa bayan ng Torrijos kahapon.

Ayon sa ulat ni Gerald Gene Querubin ng Inquirer, sinuong pa naman ng mga Marinduqueno ang init at tinahak ang paakyat na pitong kilometrong daan papunta sa Pulang Lupa Shrine para lamang makita ang pangulo.

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Eleven years ago today, I lost my mother in a sea tragedy. She was one of the passengers of the M/V Viva Antipolo VII, which caught fire and sank when it was only 30 minutes away from the port of Lucena City.

Before the accident happened, Mama and I had been preparing for my first semester in the University of the Philippines. After we had fulfilled the prerequisites for enrollment, she went back to Marinduque to raise money for my tuition. While she was there, she received an invitation for me to apply for a private scholarship grant. She hurriedly accomplished the application forms, secured the required documents, and sailed back to the city aboard the ill-fated ferry.

When rescuers found Mama’s body, she was clutching her bag that had the scholarship application forms and some cash, among other things. (more…)

Noong bata pa ako at nabubuhay ang aking inang si Evelyn Eder, nakita ko kung paano siya at ang kanyang mga kasamahang manggagawa sa Simbahan lumaban sa patuloy na pagtatapon ng Marcopper ng dumi mula sa kanilang minahan sa aming dagat. Pagkalipas ng ilang panahon, muli na namang bumabalik ang mapaminsalang minahan sa aming lalawigan.

Buo ang aking suporta sa Marinduque Declaration, na naka-post sa ibaba:

MARINDUQUE DECLARATION
adopted on January 31, 2006 during the Second Church-Local Government Leaders’ Roundtable Discussion on Social Concerns in Boac, Marinduque.”As long as Marinduque’s mountains remain rich in desirable metals, Marinduqueños will have to remain eternally vigilant to protect the island from further mining”
(+Rafael M. Lim, D.D., First Bishop of Boac)

We, Church leaders, government officials, and civil society organization representatives, after reflecting on and scrutinizing the realities in our island-province of Marinduque specifically our collective experiences for the past 30 years of hosting large-scale mining projects, do hereby declare:

1. That series of disasters due to large scale-mining operations blighted our once culturally peaceful island and for the same period, we, as a people, through various institutions and people’s collective actions, have demonstrated our collective struggle for environmental justice as can be gleaned from petitions, resolutions, manifestos, and cases filed in the various executive, legislative and judicial institutions in the country but justice has been so elusive. (more…)