A very peculiar small animal you'll find indigenous in the Philippines is the Philippine tarsier, or scientifically known as Tarsius syrichta. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than an adult men's hand. It lives on a diet of insects and mostly active at night. Folk traditions sometimes has it that tarsiers eat charcoal, but actually they retrieve the insects from (sometimes burned) wood. It can be found in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao. In their few numbers left, the tarsier might not survive if no action is taken. Although it is a protected species, and the practice of catching them and then selling them as stuffed tarsiers to tourists has stopped, the species is still threatened by the destruction of his natural forest habitat. Many years of both legal and illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have greatly reduced these forests, and reduced the tarsier population to a dangerously small size. The Philippine tarsier can s

This new year of 2012, my friends and I decided to spend our eve at Eastwood. We’re supposed to enjoy the event at Mall of Asia but unfortunately, the place was too crowded even as early as 7 PM. We need to witness the spectacular fireworks display at the place, we heard the rumor that their fireworks are tremendous. Well, it supposed to be tremendous. We then decided to spend the night at Eastwood. We’ve heard that they too have their own share of spectacular display of fireworks. Just to bore you with some definitions to make this post long enough, just read on. Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics) is a display of the effects produced by firework devices. Fireworks competitions are also regularly held at a number of places. Fireworks (devices) take many forms to produce the four prima

Today, November 30, we Filipinos are commemorating the 148th birthdate of one of our heroes Andres Bonifacio. It's funny though that when you ask a certain student who Andres Bonifacio is, you could see a puzzled look as well as funny grin.  A lot of students nowadays have no clue who Andres Bonifacio is, they didn't even know why we commemorate this date. All they know is that Andres Bonifacio is carrying his famous  jungle Bolo fighting for something not all Filipinos are aware of. More often than not, if someone tries to ask the same question to their parents, even them can admit that there's more to tell about Gat. Andres Bonifacio than his Camisa Chino and his rolled trousers. He is really more than a face you could see on a Php 5 peso bill. Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was born on November 30, 1863 at Tondo, Manila. He was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo ("supreme leader") of the Katipunan movement which is more

Last Monday, November 21, 2011, two students escaped from abductors and claimed they have witnessed the suspects extracting internal organs of two other students inside a hut in a village located somewhere in Cagayan De Oro. Not revealing their real names, nine-year-old Anna and 13-year-old Mary said five men wearing bonnets, one of whom is a foreigner, kidnapped and dragged them onboard a black van while on their way to school in Zone 7 Mahayahay, Barangay Bayabas on Monday. They also saw two other students while inside the van, who were wearing the same uniforms and were sleeping. Anna is enrolled at the Bayabas Elementary School while Mary is a first year student of Bayabas National High School. The two students claims that the suspects brought them to a hut in Barangay Camaman-an near a relocation site in Bolonsiri after the suspects covered their mouth with handkerchiefs. While inside the hut in Camaman-an, the suspects allegedly operated on the two other students and extrac

Committing with each other with such a great passion and dedication is hard to come by these days. Though one couple in the Philippines have proven that being together in a lifetime can happen no matter what it takes. Meet Lola Aurelia Matias, living just a simple life along with her family and a loving husband Lolo Luis Matias.  On November 10, Lolo Luis Matias was lost. The family may have suspects that Lolo Luis is suffering from dementia, and he is 78 years old. Just for a quick info,  dementia (taken from Latin, originally meaning "madness", from de- "without" + ment, the root of mens "mind") is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It may be static, the result of a unique global brain injury, or progressive, resulting in long-term decline due to damage or disease in the body. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it can occur before the age

If you haven’t noticed a giant Balisong erected at the center area of Batangas, that’s because there is no any. But if there is a landmark worth erecting in Batangas province in northern Philippines, it would be the sculpture of the balisong. Also known as fan knife, for centuries, it has defined the unique art, craft, and culture of Batanguenos. Diosdado Ona, owner of the Ona Blades store, sees a chance of reviving the dying industry. Yap, you heard it right folks, the balisong industry is now suffering from the dwindling supply of knife experts. The balisong capital of the Philippines is the Barangay Balisong in Taal Town. According to Ona, "I think if the government would support the balisong industry, and promote it by putting up the fan knife landmarks in all the entrances to the province such as Laguna, Cavite, and Quezon, people will know and appreciate the industry". A six-foot balisong, will be found in front of Ona's store along the highway of Barangay Balis

The world welcomes Nathaniel James “Nate” Alcasid last 8 th of November, 2011. The happy couple Ogie and Regine Velasquez-Alcasid brings home the joyous baby boy last November 18. The songwriter and songbird are as hands-on as can be with their first-born. Of course, they have waited almost a lifetime to have this moment. Rumors has it that the baby will be named Herminio Jr. According to Ogie himself, there's nothing wrong if they will use such a name, though he admits with a smile that it is not applicable nowadays.  When we search the name Nathaniel, this is what the books are telling. Nathaniel \n(a)-tha-niel\ as a boy's name is pronounced na-THAN-yel. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Nathaniel is "God has given". Biblical: one of the 12 apostles, who was also called Bartholomew. Used by the Puritans. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne; musician Nat "King" Cole. Nathaniel has 15 variant forms: Nat, Natanael, Nataniel, Nate, Nathan, Nathanael,

Former Philippines President, now Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo was stopped from boarding a plane at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Tuesday, November 15 hours after the country's Supreme Court overruled government-imposed restrictions on her travels. The Philippines government fears that Arroyo, who is facing allegations of corruption and electoral fraud, will flee if allowed to leave the country. But the Supreme Court ruled 8-5 in favor of a temporary restraining order on the travel ban, declaring it was unconstitutional as Arroyo has yet to be formally charged with a crime. A Supreme Court spokesman, Midas Marquez, told reporters the court's ruling was "consistent with the constitutional presumption of innocence." Those 8 justices were among the midnight appointees of the former President. Arroyo was reportedly boarding the flight to seek medical treatment abroad for her bone disease diagnosed earlier this year, following three unsuccessful