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.

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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.

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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:
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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.

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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.

Fellow Gubatnon:

I’ve been very busy rewriting my movie script, “Root of Vengeance” lately. But thanks, God, I’ve made it good enough for submission. Actually, resubmission to literary agents, because I tried submitting this script to few agents already. Below is just a logline and synopsis of it. But if you have time, and really curious on how a movie script for Hollywood is written, you could follow this link.

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Title: Root of Vengeance
Author: Jess Guim
Genre: Sci-fi Thriller
Spec Script, 90 pages
WGAE# I47496

Logline:
Father and son venture on designing a super-hacking program which endangers their family and the world going into nuclear war. Now, they’re racing against time to save them and the world.

Synopsis:
Calvin Bailor, big-time programmer, is selling his hacking program to the FBI to save his $10-million worth problem on his consulting business and residential mansion. But Division Chief for Cyber Crimes, Hanz Graven, is interested in getting the program for his personal ambitions. So, he steals the program with the help of his Saudi Arabian secret partner, Sheik Ahmad, arms dealer and terrorist.

The program’s authentication process uses biometrics of Calvin’s eyes. To make Medusa work, he abducts Calvin, his wife (Adelle), and his son (Mark). While boarded in a private jet from New York to Paris, the group tests the program to hack a missile testing center in Japan. The test creates a pandemonium in Japan, and incites North Korean government to launch their own missile, targeting Japan.

Hanz considers the family as tough and dangerous. He chains them like hardcore criminals and terrorists in the jet. Hans orders father and son to remove the biometrics authentication on the program, or they’ll all die.

Mark finds a heavy-duty paper clip taped underneath his notebook. He always has this clip with him, to manually eject his broken DVD player, by inserting the clip’s wire on a pinhole at its front. Calvin unlocks his handcuff and other chains on his belly and feet using the paper clip. He fails to free his wife and son, when the paper clip cuts-off on Adellene’s handcuff.

The jet goes into trouble when a gangster accidentally fires and breaks its window, while he’s trying to stop the escaping family. Sheik Ahmad tries to escape with a parachute on his back, but Calvin shoots him while exchanging fire with him. Hanz gets the bullet-ridden parachute from dead Sheik Ahmad, and escapes the troubled jet. But the torn parachute opens like a blanket, and chokes him.

Calvin thought the tragedy created by Medusa program ended already after the jet crashed at the Atlantic Ocean. But five months later, the twin children of Sheik Ahmad, Abdul and Aisha come to avenge for their father’s death. Abdul explodes Calvin’s mansion using shoulder-type missile, and escapes on expensive limousine car with a backup rescue helicopter following them.

Calvin runs after the escaping car, using the EMS ambulance that’s going to rescue and bring him to hospital. The second fire truck that’s about to go to Calvin’s burning mansion accidentally hits the escaping car in an intersection. Calvin reaches the accident site and identifies the twin as children of Sheik Ahmad through an old French newspaper, “Le Figaro,” in the limousine car. The rescue helicopter picks-up the injured twins at the accident site.

Calvin finds the shoulder-type missile launcher of Abdul inside the car. He loads it with a projectile and fires it to the escaping helicopter – exploding it into pieces. Calvin vows to stop using his hacking program, and never to trust it to anybody else. Calvin receives $10 million reward from the FBI for killing Sheik Ahmad, a wanted terrorist.

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The script is 90 pages in all. So, you really need time to read this spec script. Once you’re done reading it, please send me your own personal criticism on it. You could post your comments here, or you could send them personally to jessguim(@)yahoo(.)com – parenthesis not included.

Again, the main movie script is at http://gubatnon.com/movie_script_the_analyst.html

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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.

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This article is a reprint from http://onewebplaza.com . The reason why I’m posting this here, because I wanted to emphasize to my fellow Gubatnons how important is owning a web site now and in the future. If millions of other computer users and Internet hobbyists from around the world are earning now, while they are at their own homes, then, why not other Filipinos? Why would Filipinos sell their properties to pay unscrupulous job recruiters, to work abroad for their families, when they could stay with their families and earn money by using the powers of the world wide web? Below, follows the reprint:

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Top 7 Reasons Why You Need a Personal Website
Having a website of your own equals entering into an invaluable communication environment. There are at least 7 reasons why it is highly advisable for you to be present online:

1. Represents your personal profile
A website can be your virtual portrait, showing off your personal self to the world on a 24/7 basis. Among the most popular ways of presenting your personality online is keeping a webblog (otherwise known as online diary) or a photo gallery, where your friends can stay up-to-date with your daily living.

2. Spreads your voice across the world
A website can be your global “tribune” where you are able to share your knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with people who have common interests, but with whom you might not otherwise have crossed paths. A very popular idea-voicing tool is the discussion board, better known as “forum”. You can also have a guestbook on your site, where people can discuss your postings.

3. Lets you be in touch with people at a distance
A website can be a meeting place for making new acquaintances with people of different religion, nationality and age, as well as for keeping in touch with friends who may be on the other side of the world. Thanks to the almost unlimited online communication possibilities you can conduct one-to-one conversations with many different people directly from your website.

4. Broadens disabled people’s interaction with the world
A website empowers people with limited access, due to handicap or illness, to broaden their communication with others. A website can be a physically disabled person’s door to the dynamic world, allowing him/her to bridge over the difficulties of having a “different” everyday life. It can even be their office, where they can present and deliver certain home-made products/services directly from their living room.

5. Creates a web skill development environment
A website can introduce you to the secrets of www. The contemporary web design technologies have brought the art of creating a website just a few clicks away from the inexperienced user. Thanks to the popular WYSWYG (what you see is what you get) web design tools, absolutely everyone (irrespective of age or education degree) can build their own web page without any previous experience.

6. Makes extra profit for you with minimum investment on your part
A website can make residual profit for you, while you are sleeping or enjoying your free time. Thanks to the up-to-date techniques for bringing traffic to your website, you can earn easy money by simply having visitors click on certain product/service promos or links that are relevant to your site content pages (e.g. Google Adsense/Adwords ad solutions) without any initial investment.

7. Makes you a member of the biggest community of the world
A website is a must-have personal attribute nowadays, just like mobile phones and computers are. The fast developing technologies have converted having a website from a whim into a modern necessity. As of today, almost everyone has a web site, whereas twice as many people are expected to be having their own personal space in the global World Wide Web cosmos in the near future. Be forward-thinking, join this trend.

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You could start owning a free web site (or blog) by opening accounts in either Google.com or WordPress.com and start your own free personal blog as a starter. Don’t force yourself by buying immediately a domain and build professional web site until you’re already comfortable doing your blogging from free sites in Google and WordPress.com. If you know how to use Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, you could surely do blogging by your own. It’s really fun, specially when it starts earning an extra money for you.

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