Kabacan: How do you call it, Round Ball or Round Tire?

       

The Famous Round Ball

I have been living here in this meek town for thirty years now and i am a witness of its gradual progress and sluggish peace and order development. There are myriad ways    that you can appreciate in this town but consequently there are ways too that manifest the lapses amidst its progress.

One of which is group of tires filed in middle intersection of Rizal Avenue and Bonifacio Street that serves as buffer to motorists whenever there is a bumper to bumper traffic which usually starts at 5pm on weekdays. Unfortunately, there is no traffic lights here that could atleast ease up the congestion everyday that is why the munucipal government came up with the idea of putting tires in the mid- intersection of the highway to serve as hurdles.

Round Ball top view

Is it the solution for this town's growing problems on traffic? Is it for real or an temporary solution just for now and no definite plans for any construction of a real round ball  that will boosts Kabacan as the next -first class municipality in the province of North Cotabato.

With this temporary solution, it does not give a total benefits to people. Why i say so? It is because those tires give dismay than grace. A disguise instead of blessings. A sign of lack instead of luck. 

Let's enumerate the reasons to dissect my conclusions. First, the so called "round ball" does not discipline motorists at all. Still, drivers are cutting lane; speed up engine to hurriedly arrive home or hurriedly arrive the morgue after one false turn; vehicles jumped up at the highway because none of the drivers allow the others to pass freely; the game between the motorists is like a tag of war- the more fast you are, the more you can take your turn and pass the hurdle; there is no police officer or traffic aide to command whose lane should pass first and the lane that should wait.

Round Ball during the black out night..

Second, the tires do not have reflectors so no one can not notice it during the night unless the car's headlights strike them. If you are not from here and unfamiliar with our place, you might accidently bumped the tires and find yourself in the nearby hospital on the next day. With the rotating brown outs we experience everyday, its so difficult to see the tires because none of the mercury lamps can help to lighten the highway. So, its kind of accident-prone area then instead of accident free area. Can anyone donate a reflector paint please?

When its 5:00 pm, this is the Round Ball real scenario

Third, if vehicle hits the tires they might be rolling going to the four different streets namely bonifacio, rizal east, rizal west and usm avenue. These streets are surrounded with different establishments and they might just get surprise seeing large tires rolling to them and hurt the customers and bystanders.

Being here in the highway everyday, i have witnessed too many accidents here right in front of me. A trisikad bumped the tires and turned upside down and the poor passengers were thrown few meters away.  Single motor driver who scrub himself in the aspalt road after hitting the 'roundtires'. Delivery van who makes the tire rolled in different directions after hitting the center at the speed beyond 80kph. The driver admitted that he was completely unaware of the "roundtire" traffic sign of Kabacan. See? So, what is next then?

There were many accidents that had happened in the past both major and minor ones that i can no longer enumerate here because i already have enough to mention. Well, i just hope our local goverment will be awaken soon and should heed this problem so not so many lives will be damage in the near future. A strong government who is concern to its constituents should not only bother how the municipality generates income but rather be bothered too on the welfare of the people who are the primary players in our growing economy.

So how do we call these famous tires? What is the best adjectives to apply that connotes Kabacan's unique attraction? Shall we call it Kabacan ROUNDBALL? Its more fun in Kabacan: see our UNIQUE ROUND TIRES? or what? .... Any suggestion?

Bb. Pilipinas 2012 Coronation Night

(A true Filipina Beauty! Will she be the next Miss Universe 2012?)

I was in front of our JVC TV set waiting in anticipation for beautiful filipina women from across the Philippine islands vying for the title of "the most beautiful woman in the Philippines". How i love to have that title but ooppss.. perhaps delusion will not lead me to that prestigious crown. I envied the contestants because they are oozing with confidence, yummylicious body and wits. The pageant was hosted by devilishly handsome and smart Xian Lim with stunning supermodel Giorgina Wilson, body-perfect bombshell beauty Maria Venus Raj and award-winning actress Iza Calzado. 

My bets make it to the Top 12 but unfortunately none of them won the 3 major titles. Most of the winners were formerly candidates in the last year's pageant. See the list of winners below.

TOP 12 SEMI-FINALIST

No. 30 Sherilyn Gonzales                                No. 16 Liezl Alcantara

No. 7 Patricia Lae Ejercitado                          No. 29 Annalie Forbes

No. 26 Angelee Claudette delos Reyes           No. 9 Mary Jane Lastimosa

No. 13 Katrina Jayne Dimaranan                    No. 18 Janine Mari Tugonon

No. 15 Elaine Kay Moll                                 No. 14 Gina Joy Howell

No. 8 Nicole Schmitz                                     No. 1 Karen Gallman

SPECIAL AWARDS

National Costume                               -No. 8 Nicole Schmitz

Best in Swimsuit                                 -No. 8 Nicole Schmitz

Friendship Award                               -No. 25 Chloe Zanardi

Manila Bulletin Readers’Choice Award –      No. 20 Roxanne Tadique

Kapamilya People’s Binibini               -No. 21 Giselle Angelica Muňoz

Miss Photogenic                                -No. 1 Karen Gallman

Philippine Airlines Ambassadress       -No. 9 Mary Jane Lastimosa

Bb. Avon 2012                                 -No. 9 May Jane Lastimosa

Best in Long Gown                            -No. 26 Angelee Claudette de los Reyes

Major Titles

Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism              -No. 13 Katrina Jayne Dimaranan

Bb. Pilipinas-International        -No. 8 Nicole Schmitz  

Bb. Pilipinas-Universe             -No. 18 Janine Mari Tugonon

1^st runner-up                          -No. 15 Elaine Kay Moll

2^nd runner-up                         -No. 29 Annalie Forbes

TOP 3 QUESTION AND ANSWER FROM TOP 3 TITLE HOLDERS

*For Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism winner Katrina Jayne Dimaranan from judge Richard Gomez

Q: “If you would be a president for one day, what would you do?”

A: “If I was a president for one day of the Philippines I will try to promote education for each region because I think one of the problems in our country today is lack of education among children and I think with proper education it is essential for us to have in order to grow with the one with good morals, intelligence and happiness and optimism”.

*For Bb. Pilipinas-International winner Nicole Schmitz from judge John Miller

Q: “Which would you rather be? Someone who is respected or someone who is loved and why?

A: “I would rather be someone respected because that means you maintain your integrity, dignity and self-respect and that it means in return you would be loved by whatever matters and everyone around you”

*For Bb. Pilipinas-Universe winner Janine Mari Tugonon from judge Jose Manuel Romualdez

Q: “Many happy women today would go a happy family life or a successful career. How do you feel about this?”

A: “I believe women have the right to choose between what they want. But for me you have to go for what God had called you to do. Whatever it is between the two you must do whatever your purpose in this world. Must have a child with faith and matured obedience and everything will go smooth.”

Well then, as expected some were happy and some were dismayed. We do have individual bets but at the end it was the judges decision to follow. I just wish luck to our new delegates to the international pageants. Let us support them so they will be motivated to train harder and study further because pageants are not only for glamour and poise but it is also about wits and depth of your personality. These are the true essence of a true woman. When i say a true woman, i am pertaining to NATURALLY BORN WOMEN who are really qualified to join pageants that are for women only. 


SNAPSHOTS of the new Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2012......

Isn't she beautiful?

PALM SUNDAY Reflection

Just this afternoon, the whole family went to church to attend the Palm Sunday mass, we brought fresh coconut leaves and designed them in different forms like crucifix and etc..-- its famously known here in the Philippines as Palaspas or Palmera. We do not have much palm trees here in our place so we substitute coconut leaves instead. This was already a tradition here as well as in all catholic churches all over the world. 

But for my family, its not just a tradition that we should do or comply with so as to avoid guilt. For us, its already part of our lives. Palm Sunday, is more than welcoming Christ to our lives just like the Jews welcome Jesus Christ in Jerusalem while happily waving palm leaves. Commemorating Palm Sunday means we always remember Christ that is already within our hearts. 

Let me share my reflections on the verses on today's gospel: Mark 15:1-39

Palm Sunday Celebration at  San Pedro Church, Davao City

^***29 The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, 'Aha! So you would destroy theTemple and rebuild it in three days!

³⁰ Then save yourself; come down from the cross!'

³¹ The chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way with the words, 'He saved others, he cannot save himself.

.... Sometimes we underestimate the capacity of others. We question their qualifications and ability to do things and achieve success. There is more than what the eyes meet. We should not judge people because of their status in life, the way they dress, the things they own, the friends they have. Its true that first impression lasts. But on the contrary, first impression is not always lasting. We may judge people because of what they say and do but sometimes we fail to understand what lies behind that make them do or fail to do things in their lives. We can not give verdict on the totality of one's persona by just looking at them, but also by seeing them beyond their physical attributes.

"He saved others, he cannot save himself". Its a selfless act. A compassionate act! Do we still find these act of humility and selfishness nowadays? Well i guess, there is still. I believe man is kind by nature. God made us as basically good human beings, so simply we cannot just erase this within us. So lets just stay positive. Lets not believe that this world is being ruled by evils already. Evil things are always outsmarted by kindness. 

Giant poster that captures people, San Pedro Church Davao City

^***34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

....Its a prayer coming from the heart of Jesus Christ. In our prayer, we do tell everything to God. Our pains and happiness, our failure and success, our dreams and aspirations and everything else we want to tell Him. He listens. But do we listen to Him? We sometimes blame him with our disappointments and failures in life. We never thought that our failures shape us in the right way, like gold being tested on fire.  We sometimes blame others, situation and circumstances if problems hinder our ways. We forget that road barriers and roadblocks are motivations for us to use our initiative and intellect to straighten the road. I think, whatever come our ways, we should regard them positively. This is what we called being proactive. Being optimistic and judging things objectively.