The Wandering Savant

Baguio Skyline Good day! I believe it’s a very good day for almost everything, especially for our country. I have read a couple of good news stories in our national paper. Noticeable among these is the news referring to the apparent confidence that some multinational corporations placed in the Philippine economy. This is a far cry from the news about Italian credit downgrade by credit-rating agency Standards and Poor’s that sent indices in the Eurozone stumbling yesterday. All in all, this would send shivers worldwide in as economies are threading a precarious economic path these days. But, let me go back to the Philippines first.  The Philippine president is in the US for a working visit and according to the news, several American executives paid the president of the Philippines a courtesy call, “expressing enthusiasm in his effort to create a new business environment” and signifying their respective companies’ intention to expand presence in the country. Jeffrey Fox, preside...

Breathtaking! That's all I could say when I first laid my eyes into Lake Balinsasayaw. My 4-day vacation last August afforded me the opportunity to visit this now-famous lake in the town of Sibulan, Negros Oriental. It's a shame that people from other provinces were ahead of me in discovering this natural wonder in my home province. 

( Note: Between August 23-27, 2011 this writer was in Dumaguete and the Province of Negros Oriental for a four-day jaunt.  Just a few highlights) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A top priority in my coming down to Dumaguete was to get a glimpse of stage-play “Hinilawod”. After spending one night with my family in Pamplona, the next day, August 24 th , saw me packing up my things and rushing back to the capital of Negros Oriental to catch last rerun of the play in the city for the year at Silliman’s Luce Auditorium. By the time arrived, the whole city was a buzzed with activities. The occasional rain shower was not enough to dampen the celebratory spirit of the people. It was not the usual relaxed atmosphere that Dumaguete has been known for. This time, everyone was up and about with his own order of the day. There certainly was one good reason for this seemingly hurried pace.  For this small university town in centra...