Gubatnon ConnectionConceive. Believe. Achieve.

This You Tube version of the “Lupang Hinirang” national anthem of the Philippines touched my heart. Once in a while, we need to learn how our country evolved from one generation to another. Even short movie clips like this is enough to open our minds and hearts, how heroes of past and present cost their lives to build a nation named Philippines.

The email below was forwarded to our Class 74 Yahoo group by classmate Aida Mendivel, who is working at the Mayor’s office of Gubat. As we read the current Mayor’s email, he was expressing thanks to the efforts of the past Mayor, who is now our Honorable Congressman Ding Ramos.

****************************************

From: Ronnel Lim
To: gubat-lgu@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:01:05 PM
Subject: Gubat is Regional Winner in Local Governance

Dear all,

I am very pleased to announce that Gubat is the Regional Winner for the Second Class Municipality Category for the 2009 Award for Excellence in Local Governance.

I got a letter from the DILG informing me that our municipality obtained the highest rating using a point evaluation system based on the performance and development indicators of the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS), a summary of which I earlier emailed on this list a month ago.

I will receive the award on behalf of the municipality but the hard work for the award was, of course, done by former Mayor Ding Ramos, former Vice Mayor Dan Pura, the former SB and the many LGU employees who make sure our municipality does its duties every day of the year.

While we are being recognized as the best in performance and we have a valid reason to sit back and celebrate, we know that we still have so many things to get done and improve. So we should all soldier on to the next year, raise our revenue collection, improve the environment, set up our website, bring a local bank, increase our PHILHEALTH enrolment and I guess, we’ll be okay.

–
RONNEL U. LIM
Mayor, Municipality of Gubat
Province of Sorsogon, Philippines
T: 6356 311 7962
M: 63 918 9850130
Skype: ronnelim

Gubat is a small town. Everyone knows each other. They may have different last names. But if you study each last name’s genealogy or family root, you’ll find that they’re from one family. They are related by blood.

I was born in Bulan, with my father from Bulan and my mother from Tacloban, Leyte. But I’ve long claimed that I’m Gubatnon since our family moved to this town, when I was 6 years old. I started my schooling at the age of 6, when I was enrolled in a Kindergarten School at Gubat Central School. Believe it or not, I have classmates from Kindergarten who had been my consistent classmates until we graduated at Gubat High School. Then, we went to same university in college, and meet again in the northeast, USA when we both work abroad.

From the video clip below, you’ll see me with classmates and friends from Gubat, breaking the universal belief that the earth is big. To us, friends and classmates, the earth is too small, for even if we work from different parts of the world we always see each other. This time, one from Hong Kong, two from California, two from New York, and one from New Jersey met at Etta Escoto de Guzman’s house in New Jersey.

You’ll enjoy more of my works at my “blog farm,” links of which are listed below:

1. Around New York City 2. Blackberry Phones & More 3. Success Secrets for Filipinos 4. Filmmaking Hobby With Flip Video 5. What’s on Your Mind? 6. The Geek Senior Next Door 7. The City Never Sleeps 8. Gubatnon Connection 9. Do You Need My Help? 10. Just Call Me, Ian Ryne 11. Experts Write About 12. Mark’s Nokia Blog

I’ve never thought I could find a Gabi (Gaway) plant at Times Square, here in New York City. Of all the places, it was planted at the center island of the most popular square in the world – with 45 million visiting tourists from around the world every year. I found this plant while I was video recording the Times Square, which is a a favorite place for me. Here, you could be alone, but you’ll never feel alone with thousands of people enjoying the place. Everytime I come to this place, I always ask myself why thousands of people come to this place everyday. The answer, ‘though, need not come from other people, but from my own thoughts: Times Square is the symbol of the “American Dream” every person from other places have always dreamt about. The glittering neon lights, the giant digital billboards, the tall skyscrapers, the Broadway shows, the beeping and honking cars, and the sea of humanity at this small triangle, called “Times Square” is like a world in itself. Only that sadness and negative elements are hidden, tried to be forgotten for a moment. Only fun, happiness, and memories are enjoyed in this place.

You’ll enjoy more of my works at my “blog farm,” links of which are listed below:

1. Around New York City 2. Blackberry Phones & More 3. Success Secrets for Filipinos 4. Filmmaking Hobby With Flip Video 5. What’s on Your Mind? 6. The Geek Senior Next Door 7. The City Never Sleeps 8. Gubatnon Connection 9. Do You Need My Help? 10. Just Call Me, Ian Ryne 11. Experts Write About 12. Mark’s Nokia Blog

“Why are we poor?”  runs a line of an Internet post I’ve read in one of my groups in Yahoo? There’s so many reasons to it, but you could only answer this question based on your own perception.

When I was working as a Fiber Technician, and assigned at Gubat, I’ve met an abaca stripper (parahag-ot abaka) at Barangay Tugawe. This stripper was living in a small hut just the size of his height when he lies inside it. It was from this man how I learned that happiness is not all about money and luxurious things in life. He told me happiness is about contentment. When you’re contented with what you enjoy now, then, you’re happy. So, I asked him what makes him happy actually. He told me, once he’s in the poblacion watching the cockfight at Balag’s cockpit arena on Sundays, then, he’s happy and contented already.

The farmer was single and all alone in his life. That’s what I’ve learned further from him. As I went back home, driving my 100 cc Yamaha motorcycle, I told myself, “Maybe if I’m alone, too, in my life I could just be like him – as happy and as contented as him.” But I’m the eldest in our family, with 10 more brothers and sisters looking upon what I could do to help them. My father was just a lowly-paid government employee, while my mother was just a plain housewife. We’re as poor as self-supporting chickens we locally called “isang-kahig-isang-tuka.” With this situation, I could not be as happy and contented as the abaca stripper.

Going back to the question “Why are we poor?” my answer is actually on how we could afford to say how happy and contented we are in our lives. “Contentment” is the magic work.

Postscript:

Jim Carrie, a comedian actor, wrote on a dummy check $10 Millions issued to his name and placed it on his wallet all the time, to inspire him to get a real check with that amount in the future. When he became a successful comedian actor, he cashed out a real check more than the amount he wrote when he was poor and penniless.

Read more of my blogs at “Negosyong Pangkabuhayan, ATBP.”

Fellow GHS Alumni:

Here’s an invitation from the current GHS Alumni President, Nelson Fajardo. This request to post the announcement was emailed to me by my class ’74 classmate Leonora Funtanar.  Below is the content of her email:
****************

Please help us disseminate the info on the BARAGAT DINNER/DANCE FUNDRAISING initiated by the Gubat High School Alumni President Nelson Fajardo. The proceeds of which will support the association’ s scholars of the Meralco Foundation and the Gubat High School scholars.  Tickets are at P500.00 and P1,000.00 each. 

You may buy tickets at the gate of the venue or thru Ms. Bella Esparas Sanchez (class 73) cell no. 09298592085. The BARAGAT will be on June 5, 2010, Saturday, Kalayaan Hall, Club Filipino, Greenhils, San Juan.

As a backgrounder, the Meralco Foundation has so much respect and amazed by the performance of these scholars coming from our school.  Every year when they give these qualifying exams nationwide, they are awed by the outstanding results of the applicants from the Gubat National High School, surpassing other schools around the country.  As you may know, these scholars are from very poor families.    The Meralco Foundation shoulders only their tuition fees.  That’s why these kids are looking for sponsors on their lodging, and books.  Your assistance will be highly appreciated.

****************

As Gubatnon, I’m encouraging you to support this  Baragat 2010, and enjoy meeting old friends at the place.  So, whether you’re Anthonian or GHS graduate, please be part of this endeavor.

From childhood, I’ve always been touched by the sufferings of people who are in the level of poverty, because my family is among them until now. Since childhood, I’ve always dreamed on every election period that one day, my family’s sufferings from hunger and deprivation, could be resolved by new leaders elected. Now, I’m already on my middle-age, people shout for the same hunger and sufferings from poverty, because we have the same problem with corruption by politicians. We have always placed the solutions to our problems in the hands of politicians.

Thanks for my decision to join the Gubat St. Anthony Credit Cooperative (GSACC) at my hometown (Gubat), where members joined together with their little investments to put up a credit cooperative. Here, members help each other in building and managing a credit cooperative union which serve as source for micro lending when they need money for their business. Through this cooperative, I’ve learned the powers of self-reliance (by an individual) and cooperation from among people in order to change your social status from poor to financially stable. The money that I borrowed from this cooperative from 1986 to 1992 (before I migrated to America) were used by me to open a sari-sari store, and later to buy equipments for my growing three grocery stores, then buy the computer that I brought here in US.

“You cannot wait for politicians. Society must save its own self,” was said by Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, in a convention of writers at the McAllister Auditorium in New Orleans, USA. He was referring to the same sufferings by Mexicans and people from New Orleans, which is considered as “third world” state of USA. Related to this, let me tell the Filipino people who could read this article that they should rely on themselves, and stop waiting for politicians to help them. These politicians have their own elite groups and small groups joining together for their own interests, and simply using the poverty and sufferings of the people as their point of entries to their corruptions. Filipinos should start grouping themselves from small clusters and build their own organizations that could alleviate their own sufferings. The revolution, the change, should start from within ourselves.

Tired of the election fever? Tired of listening to black propagandas stoned by each warring parties? Now, let me change that worries, by sharing you a screamy story which I also shared in other Yahoo groups in the Internet.

*****************************

When I was a teenager at my hometown, I still believed on those aswangs, ghosts, and kapres, specially when I’m out on the road. Everything changed after my long years of stay here in New York City.

One night, I went home from the capital town of Sorsogon to my hometown at Gubat – driving my motorcycle. It was moonless night, and the wind was cold – sign of forthcoming rain on early morning. On that 20-kilometer driving from Sorsogon to Gubat, I was really scared to the bones, specially that I was the only one driving in a dark highway that’s cold and creepy.

When I passed, the barrio of Payawin, almost reaching the barrio of Carriedo, a very, very cold wind hit my body. Then, from the distant I saw silhoutte of giants waving their hands on me. I thought, they were the “Kapre’s” everyone was talking about. My hairs started to rise from my skin. My perspirations were as cold as melting ice on my face and on my back.

I thought, what if I reach the place where they’re standing, they’ll get into the asphalted road where I’m running and block my way? As they waved their hands from a distant, I knew, they’d be much bigger when I’m near them!

Being alone in a dark, and cold highway all I could do was pray the “Our Father,” and the “Hail Mary.” I can’t close my eyes, or else, I’ll get into an accident. After several repititions of the two prayers, as I moved forward to the waving giants, I finally reached the point where they were standing and waving hands at me. Then, as my motorcycle’s headlight hits these standing, and waving giants, I finally saw them in close-up range. As my motorcycle gets closer to them, I finally saw tall banana plants with their leaves waving on the air.

I didn’t know, if it was because of the powers of my prayers that the giants turned into tall banana plants. But after my long stay here in New York City, I certainly believe that those giants waving hands on me were products of my own imaginations.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Election fever is extremely an epidemic in the Philippines now.  Friends and relatives are even going to the extreme of separating from each others’ long friendships and family ties, because they could not agree with their choices of candidates.  I warn you, my fellow Gubatnons, not to go into this kind of situation. These politicians don’t even know you.  Why would you gamble your friendships and family ties to these politicians? As my father had always told me, “In politics, there’s no permanent friendships, no permanent enemies. There’s only permanent personal interests.”  Those politicians who are opposing with each other now, will soon be friends again after the election time.  But I doubt with you if you will still be friend with your best friend after election, if you broke your alliance with him/her, because of your different choices on candidates.

As a citizen, exercise your right to vote.  Select the right candidates, select the “lesser evils,” and with more accomplishments in their past records. Why I was saying “lesser evil,” because I’ve read in many articles that politicians are all evil. So, select the “lesser evil.”

By the way, I would like to thank subscribers to this blog who had started following my advise to practice building their own exposures in the Internet by doing their own free blogs from Google at https://www.blogger.com/start, and from WordPress at http://wordpress.com/. If you are going to try, too, I advise you to open a free gmail or Google account, and open a free blog at https://www.blogger.com/start. Once you’ve made your own Google Blog, from your blog, there’s an option to monetize or earn money from it. The “monetize” button is at the upper right corner of the window, when you are at your admin control panel of your own Google blog. Here, you will be applying for Google Adsense, a pay-per-click advertising that will be placed by Google in your blog. The amount of pay-per-click depends on how valuable is the ad.  An ad for a car, for example, is $2.40 per click.  Imagine if your blog topic is about cars, and people who visit your blog click your ads (let’s say a minimum of 10 in a day or more if you have more visitors), you’re earning dollars without going abroad, without leaving your family. So, my best advise open up a blog that’s interesting to you, and at the same time will give you good earnings from the Google Adsense.

There’s a lot of opportunities in the Internet.  Don’t waste it, like the way you waste your cell phone loads by texting worthless rumors and green jokes. But don’t buy offers of opportunities by the scammers (there’s thousands of them). Learn these opportunities for free.  Again, don’t be fooled by offers of million dollars earnings by scammers. Start yours for free, from the one I told you – free Google blog with pay-per-click ads of Google Adsense. And one more thing, don’t risk your permanent job, by focusing on this Internet opportunity if you are not sure about it. Take it as a hobby, with the promise of an additional dollar earning. Finally, if you have questions, please send it to me by email, or post it here as comment. 

Postscript: In case you visit here, and you did not find an update or new article to read, please visit my other web site http://overseasfilipinos.com . It has articles pertaining to secrets of success for a larger audience. I love to take pictures of New York City, and if you wanted to see the beauty of the city where I’m living now, please visit http://aroundnewyorkcity.com .

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Fellow Gubatnon:

This blog’s subscribers had increased a lot since I redesigned this “Gubatnon Connection.” So, from here, I would like to thank you personally for your trust on my writing capabilities. Gubatnon Connection, as you may know, is different from other Gubatnon web sites or Gubatnon social networking in the Internet now. It’s been my objective when I created this blog, that you’ll come here not only for fun but mostly to learn something about doing business in the Internet, secrets of success by the rich and famous, and any postive ideas that could change our lives as Gubatnon.

Writing for blog is a hard work, specially that I have other blog sites to maintain. Aside from “Gubatnon Connection,” I’m managing also a blog site for digital photography in New York City, a web site for overseas Filipino workers, and a new blog about writers. Sometimes, I would even contemplate of closing this blog in favor of my other blog sites with larger subscribers like the bigapplecity.com blog and the overseasfilipinos.com blog with thousands of viewers every month. But I’m a Gubatnon, and I love Gubat. I feel different when I write something for this site. I feel I’m connected to my Kababayans even if I’m here in New York City – the reason why I finally changed it’s head title from “Gubatnon Blogger” to “Gubatnon Connection.”

Fellow, Gubatnon, I urge you to invite other Kababayans to come, subscribe to this blog, and participate in discussions by leaving comments on the posts and pages. Thank you very much.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator