Aethen

I am a very beach or outdoorsy person, but there’s one thing that excites me, a world-class tourist destination in my beloved hometown in Mindanao. Paraiso Verde Resort and Water Park has been teasing the public with the promise of a world-class resort and water park that will be the biggest in Mindanao and one of the best in the world. Paraiso Verde boasts of four exciting water attractions: Moby Wave Pool , the largest wave pool in Mindanao that features a giant water bucket; Adventura River Rapids which will take you on an adrenaline filled watery ride; Wiggles Kiddie Pool for your little ones; and Freestyle Swim Pool for no-frills swimming for fitness and recreation purposes. Sounds absolutely fun, right? Paraiso Verde spells pure fun for everyone. Paraiso Verde is now open to the public and is having regular events every week. This is one of the best barkada / family get-away for a big fun in Mindanao! My personal favorite among the water attractions is the wave ...

“Mothers give their sons permission to be a prince but the father must show him how…” I am a prince, and my father's the king and it was his birthday yesterday. It was tatay 's 52nd birthday yesterday. Last day also was the first time I greeted him heart-fully and spoken to him the words, I love you and thank you but was not emotional . Yes, I have never been that expressive and open to him since the end of his dictatorship – last year, I received self-declared freedom and signed a mutual treaty with him that both would raise a white flag and surrender our armaments. It was an absolute relief having revived the healthy relationship with him but I am also missing the silent and strategic battle we fought against each other. Funny but that was how we dealt with each other over the past years. He had almost always opposed my ideas and my philosophies never ceased to contrast with his. We seldom meet in the center and agree for one thing –save, maybe food preference....

A few weeks after the idea was hatched up by a closeknit group of blogger friends who felt that it was ripe and timely for a large Bloggers gathering in General Santos City, judging from requests from a lot of blogging enthusiasts, it’s now all systems go for the first BLOGFEST SOCCSKSARGEN 2010 . A brainchild of the the members of the core group of the locally famous  Soccsksargen Bloggers , the self-proclaimed “Mindanao’s Funnest” Blogging Community , frontlined by Lead Convenor and major driver  Bariles of GenSantos.com ,  BLOGFEST SOX 2010 gathers at least a hundred bloggers and web geeks from all over Southern Mindanao under one roof for a day to listen to and learn from some of the internet’s most respected luminaries. Imagine combining all the wisdom and knowledge one can get out of these speakers below:  (Click on each name for more info.) Google Philippines’ Aileen Apolo-de Jesus , Presidential Communications Operations Office Manager Jay Jabon...

The Cagayan de Oro (CDO) based bloggers formally open the pre-registration to the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit which will be on October 24, 2009 . You may Pre-Register already now! This is the third annual summit of bloggers in Mindanao which will be held in Cagayan de Oro City. The first two summits organized really made a blast with an aim to promote the beauty, culture, and identity of Mindanao . I’m looking forward to this year’s event to be influential and be able to invite more bloggers to take part in changing the perspective of outside people about the land and to communicate understanding of culture among us Filipinos. Mindanao Bloggers, see you there!

"Volunteers are not paid not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless." Aside from December being the month dedicated to Overseas Filipino Workers, it is also dedicated to the other version of Pinoy modern heroes, the Volunteers. Photos in the above slideshow were taken during the Awarding of the Outstanding Volunteers of the Year organized by the Philippine Association for Volunteer Efforts and the National Economic Development Authority held on December 8, 2008 at Manila Hotel. Mark Aethen Agana (South Cotabato) is one of this year's awardees, in the Youth Category (that's me). Being a volunteer, it elated me very much being surrounded by fellow Filipinos who see volunteerism and community service a potential force of nationbuilding. This National Award for Volunteerism I received is dedicated to my fellow volunteers in Mindanao. This is OUR fruit of love to realize and weave the dreams of the Youth in South Cotabato, guys. To the T'nalak You...

I just don’t know but I have to tell the whole online community about this. When I went home in South Cotabato, I was surprised to see Bayani Fernando’s pictures and posters pasted on the light posts specifically located in the national highway of the City of Koronadal and in some streets of General Santos City (I have not taken pictures of those posters but it's everywhere). What does Fernando or the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority have to do with these provinces or any provinces for that matter? Whose money was used to pay these posters? Does it comes from his payday loans ? In relation to this, what’s the matter behind all this “Bayani” stickers that I see all over Metro Manila? What do these stickers hope to achieve other than early campaign? Hey, 2010 is still a long way to go, why they are in hurry wherein fact there’s still need more attention to the traffic problems here in Metro Manila.

Spot me in the coverage.

the mindanao bloggers summit 2 The success of the 2nd Mindanao bloggers summit was echoing from all the corners of the blogosphere. It was a lot fun than MBS1 in terms of participation and impact. Meeting friends from UP Mindanao Almost half of the numbers of participants were from General Santos City, many were from Davao also, and some from Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Cotabato, and other parts of Mindanao, there were guests from Manila too. Mostly of the participants were young and new in blogging. Posing with blogger friends from Davao Mikko and I were early and busy welcoming the delegates arrived at the venue. DeeJames even tagged us as the Blogger sucks guy [ Mikko ] and Skull head guy [Moi] because of our tee prints. Avel "Bariles" Manansala Avel Manansala welcomed the participants and gave the overview of the summit. The bloggers who attended the summit appreciated the preparations made by Bariles to host the this year's summit. His leadership was really influe...

Finally, the registration for the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit is now open. The Summit will be held at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Center at the Tuna Capital of the Philippines, General Santos City on October 25-26, 2008 . Who can register? Any past or present Mindanao resident who has a blog ( Wordpress, Blogger, Live Journal, I.com, Multiply, Friendster, Imeem, etc. or a self-hosted blog ) As a registrant, you are entitled to the following: Free MBS2 Kit 3 Meal Coupons Sashimi Night Pass (after summit dinner/party) Raffle Ticket October 26 Tour Pass (Tour around the Tuna Capital of the Philippines) More Freebies and surprises! How to register? Copy the code below of the I-AM-JOINING-THE-MBS2 Logo which looks like the one at the start of this post and paste it to your sidebar. Post an article entitled “ I will be in GenSan for the MBS2 ” (you may choose your title) in your blog where you can explain the title any which way you want. Include the ...

Last Saturday marked a record in blogging history in the Philippines this year as t he first WordCamp in the Southeast Asia and was hosted by the Mindan ao bloggers . On that date, WordPress users and soon-to-be users, developers and advocates gathered to camp at De La Salle – College of St. Benilde, Manila. The event served as a venue for socializing with other WordPress users, sharing, networking and learning more about WordPress and its future. About 300 bloggers attended the event (also blogger-platform bloggers were there to compare and learn WordPress). There were many interesting WordPress and blogging topics divided in different sessions and schedule to accommodate campers and to fit the time in schedule. The morning sessions were breakaway ones, campers has options to attend in the sessions they were interested whether they were developers or users.My first session was Blogging 102 by Jayvee Fernandez . I really did not intend to attend in his session, I was just not sure t...

General Santos City, fresh on its bid to become the Convention Capital of Region XII, will be the site of the biggest gathering of bloggers everywhere in the island - the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit or MBS 2 , on October 25, 2008. Am inviting you to attend the grand gathering of Mindanao bloggers! For more details visit here. Keep updated. :) See you there. Poster was designed by Ryann from Zamboanga [not yet the official poster]

I will be attending the WordCamp Philippines 2008 on 6 September 2008 (Saturday) , from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM at College of St. Benilde, Taft Avenue, Manila . The WordCamp is the premier event for WordPress users and developers. WordPress is arguably the #1 blogging platform in the world today. I'm posting this intent to attend the Camp to learn more about the power of Wordpress and its features . And I believe that this is the best venue for WP enthusiasts to come together and get updated on the latest. But, primarily, I want to see the comparison of Wordpress to other web hosting site as blogging engine and also as a full-featured content management system for Web sites . The WordCamp will have the following components: Deployment (Usage) Track Development Track Panel Discussions WP Install-Fest After Party! You may check WordCamp Philippines 2008 for more details. This is organized by the Mindanao Bloggers . Also thanks for the following sponsors who are supportin...

A temporary MBS 2 semi-poster designed by Sir Ariel Lalisan General Santos City , fresh on its bid to become the Convention Capital of Region XII , will be the site of the biggest gathering of bloggers everywhere in the island - the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit or MBS 2 , for short. NAME OF EVENT: The 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit (MBS 2) THEME: Mindanawan: Paminawon Intawon. Blogging the Mindanao Consciousness DATE: October 25, 2008, Saturday, during the GenSan E-Business Week of the DTI and the city government. This came after the organizers of the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit held last September in Davao City led by Blogie Robillo , and his group, The Usual Suspects , felt it was time for the Tuna Capital to take the lead. The Socsksargen Bloggers have been thinking about it ever since Mark Aethen Agana of Koronadal, spearheaded a SOCCSarGen Blog Seminar last February which gathered almost two hundred participants at the Notre Dame of Marbel University . The positive respo...

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines (my hometown) — The ninth edition of the annual T’nalak Festival of South Cotabato kicked on July 11, Friday to once again showcase the province’s investment and tourism potentials. Activities lined up for the festivities include an agri-trade fair, bazaars, concerts, cultural shows, street dancing competition, grand fireworks display competition and visits to various tourism attractions in the province. The activities will culminate on July 18, the province’s foundation anniversary. For the festival schedule of activities click here . FYI: The festival was named after the T’nalak, an indigenous, colorful cloth woven by women of the T’boli tribe. The cloth has brought recognition to the province in the national and international scene. It is said that the design of the t'nalak cloth was a creative pattern that the women of t'boli tribe dreamed. This is my first time not to witness the festival but I'll be celebrating it with them still. ...

The Lettermen, "Live in Concert" at South Cotabato Gymnasium, Koronadal City on July 4, 2008, Friday. Twenty million records and seven thousand concert shows ago, three young men in letter sweaters hit the music charts with their first single, "The Way You Look Tonight." The soft, melodic tune was a departure from the hard-driving music of that day, but listener requests made it a must for disc jockey play lists all over the country. In almost every poll, The Lettermen became "Best Vocal Group" or "Best New Group." Hit after hit followed : "When I Fall in Love," "Theme From A Summer Place," "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," "Hurt So Bad," and "Shangri-La" as well as over fifty albums filled with special romantic Lettermen harmony. One of their better known songs, "Goin' Out of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You," was a first of its kind when it was released; ...

Last week, I was in Davao city to visit some friends and to meet Te Kix , the Jesuit Volunteer of the Philippines batch 28, who is in-charge in organizing the youth groups in Mindanao. She is from Ateneo de Naga Univesity and currently finishing her term as volunteer in the Pathways program. I arrived late night in the city because I left Marbel at 3pm and I waited at the front gate of Ateneo de Davao University, where my friends will meet me. We had our dinner immediately at the Pastil store near the university, then we went to Matina Town Square (MTS) to hang loose and appreciate the gig. We bought some cool rummaged items in the stalls located in the center of the square. In the next morning, Emyat, Te Sandra , Te Kix and I met to discuss about the sharing the light program in Davao, a grant from Children’s hour . At our meeting, I suggested that we need a healing ritual because we had a busy day. In this meeting we had to decide on where to continue our discussion and wherein we ...

If you learn about eye procedures cosmetic surgeons can perform why don’t also learn about participating in nation building? An interfaith prayer rally in celebration of EDSA I and for call and search for TRUTH was organized last February 25, 2007 in Koronadal City . The prayer rally was participated in by the Catholic clergy, Kabataan Party List, Gabriela, Sector of Farmers, and us, the students who participated and represented the few students in the University but declares ourselves us individual supporters. The chamber of Commerce in the Province, and many on truth-side government officials and employees joined the rally. It was mainly organized to awaken the minds of the Filipino people to participate in search for truth and stop corruption. It was lightly organized and ended peacefully with lighting a candle and dancing and singing of the truth. A Piso Para Kay Jun Lozada movement was also made to support him. The rally was entertaining yet substantial. I was rea...

*** Review-a-blog! SOCCSarGen Bloggers’ Review-a-Blog Contest *** Open to all who attended the Blog seminar at Marbel

Making college more accessible - http://www.schoogle.ph/ I want to share with you the new feature on Pathways' newest pet project. It is called Schoogle . It is a portal designed to help high school students find information on how to apply for scholarships offered by reputable local universities and foundations in the country. Primarily, 'Schoogle' provides RP college scholarship info to students. In short, It's an online resource for kids who want to enter college. Schoogle, a play on the words "school" and "Google," is currently limitedto schools in the National Capital Region. But the project proponentsintend to make it nationwide next year. The online database currently has data on 40 schools and 20 foundationsthat offer scholarships to students. Please support this project so that we can make more paths for better Philippines. :) *** The Search for Outstanding Volunteers 2007 (SOV) , sponsored by the Philippine National Volunteer Service C...

Am I late to post this? I hope it is not. Anyway, I was in the first ever Bloggers Summit in the Mindanao which was held at 4th Floor NCCC Mall, Davao and was organized by the Usual Suspects. Ariel and I arrived at the venue about 10:45pm and were lucky that the event had just started. We did not heard the keynote speech on Blogging and Participatory Governance of Davao City Councilor Peter Laviña where he addressed that blogs were effective for participative governance. In our entrance to the summit Bob Martin who is staying in Mindanao for almost 5 years and owns Mindanao.com and many other proPhilippines travel blog. He gave a speech on Travel and Technology. He featured his experience in Mindanao and he travels a lot for earnings. A “ Promote-Your-Blog activity ” was done to fill some idle time in the program. Maybe it was part of the program. They gave also freebies (IBM Pens, IBM Notepads, Google package, Domain and hosting package, MBS shirts and caps) in random raffle. And...