The bus ride was a bitch for the godfather.

I left for Malaybalay, Bukidnon early morning of Sunday as I promised to my former colleague that I’ll be the ninong of her firstborn son, Leobert John. I was excited of course because it would mean seeing the marvelous landscape of Bukidnon after almost a year of not passing through the Davao-Bukidnon-Cagayan route.

I woke up at 5am with the hope that I’ll be able to catch a non-stop aircon bus that would just take about 4 hours. There was no non-stop aircon until 10 am so I have to make do with the estimated 5 hours ETA with 4 stops. The sky was overcast and it rained. It rained so hard the moment the bus left but I didn’t gripe on it. What really flared me up to point I almost jammed the horn was because the driver and ticket dispatcher/collector didn’t come back until an hour after the ETD. They probably played tong-its or fucked each other twice in the filthy CR or god-knows-wherever.

I missed riding the bus actually so I was looking forward to it despite the 2-hour delay that I thought I will cause during the whole christening proceeding. Good thing the mass was late. I saw the San Isidro church of Malaybalay about twice but I never really got in. Inside it was a sight to behold. Just like the churches in Butuan, Agusan and Dapitan, it feels ancient and golden. Bukidnon also has the Transfiguration Church situated amidst the vast plains and mountain ranges. I wish I had a camera and I wished it wasn't raining. I didn't capture its architecture from the outside which resembles a massive black pyramid from the outside.

So the priest got on with the head-rinsing ritual and the whole rhetoric of godfather responsibilities. It suddenly occured to me that it was the first time I sat through a whole baptism considering that I am already ninong to about 4 children, all from high school classmates.

I ate like a pig or rather I ate the pig -- lechon that is. I did not have breakfast during the entire bus ride which was made excruciatingly long by people who seem to think they own the fucking bus by staying in the CR for too long, marauding the market and not buying anything, marauding some more before finally deciding to go back while the rest of the passengers are clutching their bags hoping to give them a beating.

Night was cold in Malaybalay which was great - one thing I love about the place. When you walk at daytime, you know ultraviolet rays are penetrating your skin but you don't feel jumping into a tub of ice water because of heat. While listening to the crickets, I decided that I would not pass up the chance to bask in the spring water resort the next morning to travel another hellish 5 hours just to get my index finger inked and vote unknown people in the barangay elections.

hiatus

Jeezers. I can’t even remember the last time I posted. It must’ve been almost a month. Work really gets in the way with blogging. Tsk. Tsk. He. He. I feel that the stress has siphoned the thoughts that I have piled up since a lot of major things have transpired. But yes, I’m still thinking. I think I need to dilute the void I have created in this space and make way for some sinking in. Whatever that is.

Get mind-blogged

Mindanawon ba ka nga ga-blog? Te, ano pang ginahulat mo?

Apil na 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit! Mag-enjoy gali mo! Daghan pa mo makat-unan!

Spotlight Mindanao:
Blogging for Culture, Identity & Understanding

• Date: 27 October 2007 (Saturday)
• Time: 9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.
• Venue: 4th Floor, NCCC Mall, Ma-a, Davao City
• Registration Fee: FREE!

Click here to register.
Visit the site and see more than enough reasons to join this mind-blogging experience.

1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit Sponsors:

• Councilor Peter Laviña
• Join the DigitalFilipino.com Club!
• NoKiAHOST.COM P5/day webhosting
• BisayaBloggers.com
• Davao's Food Huntress
• Web Design Philippines
• Lane Systems
• Orange County Real Estate
• Web Developer Philippines
• Fwendz Diner
• Globe Broadband
• ACT for Peace Programme

Ang ZTE bow

I remember the week before the ZTE broadband controversy erupted in the news, I was in Zamboanga City to do a roadshow consultation in the region with the organizers of the Mindanao ICT Congress. I was still with my previous office then and it was actually my last work-related travel. We invited ICT stakeholders both from the government and private sector to promote the conduct of the said event. As part of the promotional roadshow, we conduct consultations among the ICT players, the output of which will form the policy component which usually translates into resolutions or policy agenda.

The NTC regional director reported during that meeting that the deployment of the National Broadband Network is expected the following week. Broadband connectivity is one of the emerging ICT concerns as this is seen to heighten appreciation of the critical role of ICT in the nation's development especially that world economies are now propelled by information and knowledge. In fact, I read in the papers a few months back that the Philippines ranked 4th in the world with the usage of e-Governance. ICT is indeed critical in enhancing government transactions and the basic delivery of government services.

Then here comes Abalos who seems to enjoy the proverbial hot seat and other political schmucks entering the picture inevitably. Everything has been laid already in the table, in the hands of the Senate inquiry actually, where everybody had a grand time except Abalos who keeps receiving pies in the face.

But I don't gripe on this usual scenario. Fuck those retards. What I'm dismayed at is how this kind of political backwardness takes its toll on an industry that is poising the country to really actively play in the global economy, thinking that we can outrun other leading Asian countries in the ICT and BPO field in few years if we're dead serious about it. If planned strategically, and commonsensically at that, ICT can and will bridge this digital divide, even in the countryside, that hampers a great deal of development. Look at the Telepono sa Barangay which is so haphazardly installed that I bet rural people continue to ogle at its anatomy and purpose.

I hope that the initiatives and efforts that are already under way should be sustained. I also hope that the players in the industry continue to have that technopreneurial spirit to get ICT to transform lives.