Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) – Video

Typhoon Pepeng (International Name Parma) is currently making it’s way through Northern Luzon, having made landfall there a few hours ago.  I have been keeping in touch with Paul Keating, who lives in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, not all that far from where the storm is passing through.

Earlier today, Paul sent me a video of current conditions at his location.  Things are still fairly calm in the area, but Paul told me that he hopes to update me with additional videos as the storm passes through.  Of course, with the possibility of severe weather conditions, we can’t be sure if Paul will be able to do additional videos or not.  Also, Internet has already been in and out for Paul. so it’s unsure he will be able to transmit the videos to me either.  But, if he is able to get the video and send it to me, I will keep sharing Paul’s storm videos here, and also on my You Tube Channel.

Good luck Paul, and anybody else in the storm’s “hot zone,” we are praying for your safety.

Now you can read me in the SunStar!

Just a quick announcement, everybody.  Effective today, I have a weekly column in the SunStar Davao Newspaper.  SunStar, I believe, is Davao’s largest circulation newspaper, and I am happy to be featured there.

My column is called “Mindanao Bob’s Journal” and will appear every Friday in the SunStar Davao edition.  For this week’s column, it is basically just an introduction of who I am and how I got here.  We’ll get down to more serious issues next week.

Unfortunately, this first column is not included in the Online edition of  SunStar, but perhaps future columns will be.

Welcome, Dave DeWall

Hello everybody.  Today, I’d like to introduce a new writer on LiP, Dave DeWall.  Dave’s first article is already online and ready for your enjoyment.  For Dave’s first effort out the door, he has a story to tell about taking a trip on a Multicab.

Dave lives on Guimaras island in the Visayas.

Welcome aboard, Dave!  It’s our pleasure to have you on LiP, and we look forward to getting to know you better.

Mindanao Gallery Online

I used to have a Mindanao Photoblog a number of years ago, where I did nothing but publish photographs of Mindanao.  A year or more ago, I merged my Photoblog in with my Mindanao Blog, and with the combination of the two, I created the Mindanao Magazine.

The old Photoblog is still a category on Mindanao Magazine, and I feature photographs from all over Mindanao in that Category on the Magazine.  However, still, to this day, I get a lot of requests from people for a separate Photoblog again.

Well, I recently decided to honor the request of those who ask for it, and I have recently launched The Mindanao Gallery.  Mindanao Gallery features places in Mindanao that I have personally visited.  Now that I have visited all but two of the Mindanao Provinces, I can share with you a view of almost the entire island!  I think I have some nice photos to share there, and I hope you like them too.

Right now there are only a few dozen photos to get started, but I think the site will quickly grow into a substantial photo-tour of Mindanao!

Visit the Mindanao Gallery today!

Klaus Doring

I regret to announce the Klaus Doring will no longer be a columnist here on LiP.

Welcome to LiP!

As you may recall, a while back I told you that I had several new writers who would be joining us here on LiP!  Well, today we have one of those people joining us – Louis Tamasi.

Louis was one of the early writers on LiP about 2 1/2 years ago when I first started adding additional writers on the site.  Louis was actually one of our most colorful and controversial writers on the site!  He certainly brought some life to LiP in those early days!  We’ll give it another try and see if it happens again!

Seriously, though, Louis lives here in Davao, and we enjoy getting together for coffee from time to time, so I am happy to welcome Louis back to LiP, and I look forward to reading his articles here on the site!

Welcome back, Louis!

Welcome aboard!

I’d like to introduce a new writer here on LiP, starting this afternoon, in just over an hour from now.  You might have seen him before commenting on this site.  Our new writer is Paul Thompson.

Paul’s first article will be appearing in just over an hour here on LiP.  I’m looking forward to getting to know Paul better through reading what he has to say here.

Paul is a retired Military man, and has been living in the Philippines for some time already.

Welcome aboard, Paul!

Are you a Philippine News Junkie?

Are you a Philippine News Junkie like me? Always have to know what is going on in the Philippines?

Well, if you are, Feyma and I have three new sites that might interest you!

First, we have a new site called the “Luzon Magazine” which features news and current events on the Island of Luzon!  We started this site a couple of weeks ago, and it is starting to build up a nice list of current news and events on the Island of Luzon.  Give it a visit and see what you think!

Secondly, we have another new site called “Visayas Magazine” which is much like the Luzon Magazine, but this one covers the Visayas Region of the Philippines!  This site has also been online for a couple of weeks now, and you can find a variety of stories and news from the Visayas!

As most of you know, I also have a site called the “Mindanao Magazine” which features news and events on the Island of Mindanao.  This is my oldest site by far, dating back to 1996!  That site continues.

Rounding out our three new sites is the Balitang Pilipinas site, which ties together the three News Magazines, tying them all into a single outlet for Philippine News and Events.  The Balitang Pilipinas site does not feature stories in itself, but will show all the latest headlines from the three News Magazine sites that we offer!

So, if you are a Philippine News Junkie, I hope that you will follow these three new sites, and enjoy them.  Any feedback that you have to offer would be most appreciated too!

A couple of announcements

Today, I’d like to make a couple of announcements!

Firstly, Feyma’s Personal Website has been pretty much completely renovated, new theme, new content, everything is new!  So, I am sure that she would like it if you paid a visit over to Feyma’s World!  In addition, Feyma is also making public various services that she is offering for readers, the announcement for that is available over on her site as well.

Secondly, Feyma and I have launched a new website, WowSamal!  It’s all about Samal Island and our adventures over there.  We love Samal, enjoy visiting there, and possibly may still end up living over there sometime in the future.  Sometimes I feel that we will certainly live there, other times I think of other destinations for our final retirement spot here.  But, Samal is right near the top of the list.  With this new WowSamal site, I hope to share a little about what makes Samal special for us!  Pay us a visit at WowSamal!

Crossing river to city

ALABEL, Sarangani (July 27, 2009) – Grade VI pupils of New Canaan and Kiangkos Elementary Schools cross a river and walk for eight hours Thursday, July 23, during their educational tour “Making Little Dreams Possible” sponsored by the Alcantara Foundation. A few weeks ago, volunteers from the provincial government and staff of the Quality Education for Sarangani Today (QUEST) went up the mountains to visit the schools, bringing along workbooks for the lumad school children. (Released for publication on LiP by Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)