The Vagina Monologues

In celebration of the International Women's Month, the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center hosted a presentation of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues last 15 March 2007.

The presentation is a V-Day benefit production and acts as a vehicle to give voice to its mission to end rape, incest, battery, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery. "Reclaiming Peace" is this year's V-Day theme. The theme seeks to make a connection between and among worldwide anti-violence work of thousands of V-Day activists. By putting forth this production, it is hoped that awareness of the message of peace through peaceful means is increased and funds are raised to continuously support anti-violence work.

Each year V-Day creates a Spotlight around a particular group of women who are experiencing violence and resisting it with courage and vision that the world must know about. This year, 2007, the V-Day Spotlight is on Women In Conflict Zones because war exponentially increases the crimes of violence against women, girls and children. In equal measure, the strength and resilience of women in rebuilding their communities and leading governments through peaceful solutions needs to be celebrated.




For women, not just during war but for decades to come, armed conflict means escalated military, sexual, and domestic violence, lack of security as a displaced person or refugee, and vulnerability to sex traffickers and coerced prostitution.


This years Spotlight serves as the focus of the performance of The Vagina Monologues. This is in line with V-Day's tradition of celebrating, encouraging and supporting women globally to end violence.




Presentation of The Vagina Monologues was made possible by the support of the following groups and individuals: The Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) ABEO Playhouse, the Iligan City Government Women's Desk, the Mindanao Commission on Women, the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center, the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs, Ms. Bebot Rodil, Ms. Jenny Ramos, Ms. Popot Baldevia, Ms. Aili Gatuslao and Ms. Charmaine Dagapioso-Baconga.

Artistic Direction was provided by Ms. Jean Graciela E. Penola. Major sponsors for the staging of the play/monologues included Petronas Energy Philippines, IVORY Printing and Publishing House, Soroptimist International, Debbie's Delight Food Haus, Peek and Betty Bakeshoppe, and Cafe Hermoso.

Sign yourselves up to "give peace a vote" and spread the word about the campaign at your events by visiting http://www.givepeaceavote.org.

"Sambayaan" An advocacy campaign for the promotion of IP rights

Yesterday, my wife and I went to Xavier University to look at an art exhibit displayed by Talaandig Tribe artists. What attracted me to go and see the exhibit was the Soil on Canvass Paintings on display. It was the first time I was going to see paintings using soil as the medium. Soil painting was popularized by a Talaandig Tribe leader and artist Waway Linsahay Saway (posing beside one of his creation). Waway also composes indigenous music and is into theater arts.

Also showcased in the exhibit were indigenous musical instruments (e.g. bamboo flutes, rainsticks, drums), and earthcraft/stonecraft jewelry.

The two-day art exhibit was organized by first year students from the College of Law, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan as an advocacy campaign to promote the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Sports Zone 1st Friendship Badminton Tournament

Selected shots taken during the Sports Zone 1st Friendly Badminton Tournament held last February. I would have wanted to join the tournament however, I could not find a partner. Singles match was not offered. The two-day tournament was open to Class E and Class F (beginners level) only.

Not being able to join, I decided to document (self-assignment) the event. This is my first attempt to cover a sporting event.

Michael's Landscape Work

Loving Encounters

I had the opportunity to watch and shoot (from the audience seat) a Monologue (In Four-Parts) last December 2006. The monologue was organized and performed by selected members of the faculty, staff and students of the Corpus Christi School.





Kris Valerie Navidad, the daughter of a good friend and neighbor, Conrado "Totong" and Jean Navidad, participated as one of the soloist/singer that sang songs in-between the monologues. Among the singers assigned to sing, Kris was the only singer from the Grade School Department. She is in Grade 2. Kris Valerie's mother, Jean, teaches music in Corpus Christi.

Balay Mindanaw Peace Center 2nd Anniversary

"Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw . . . . . Sa Mindanao, Sa Pilipinas, Sa Kalibutan" (Equity, Progress, Peace . . . . . In Mindanao, In the Philippines, In the World). This is the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGO's vision statement. What started out as a three-person office, has now grown to become one of the leading groups of non-profit, non-governmental, developmental NGOs here in Mindanao. From the original Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI). , four other developmental organizations were born. These are the Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, Inc. or Balaod Mindanaw, the Kab-ot Gahum: Resource Center for Empowerment and Development (RCED), the Balay Dabaw Sur, Inc. (BDSI), and the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center. I have been privileged to have been a witness, and to some extent have been part of the growth of the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs from its humble beginnings up to what it is now.

18 January 2007 marked the second anniversary of the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center. Two years into its existence, the Peace Center has taken big steps towards building genuine peace not only in the island of Mindanao but also in the Philippines and even South East Asia. Activities the Peace Center has initiated includes the hosting of the First Action Asia Peace Forum, acting as the independent secretariat for the on-going peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Mindanaw (RPM-M), and providing a comprehensive peace building course for the Philippine Army's 1st Infantry "Tabak" Division.

The simple 2nd anniversary celebration was attended by the officers and staff of the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs and partner organizations from the international community (Ford Foundation, EU) as well as partner organizations in Mindanaw and the Philippines.

"TAWA"

I was off to the island province of Camiguin last February to document the blessing and inauguration of a meat production/processing facility of the Tubod Active Women's Association (TAWA). "Tawa" is also a Visayan or Tagalog word that literally means laugh.




Organized on September 2005, the TAWA has at least 15 active members with 5 new members joining the association early this year. Meat processing started out as an individual household-based business of two of the members. Running the business individually made it difficult for the two women to sustain the business as they could not keep-up with the cost of operations as well as the workload required for the business to grow. They soon realized that by running the business as an organization, the needed capital can be generated and sustained through capital build-up (CBU) and the workload can be shared. Furthermore, the enterprise will provide employment or income opportunities for the other women in the barangay/village.



With a starting capital of Php. 1,500.00, TAWA processed a total of 2 kilograms of meat into skinless Longonisa and Tocino. In the year 2002, the Resource Center for Empowerment and Development (RCED), a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Cagayan de Oro City provided technical assistance to TAWA in the area of organizational strengthening, capacity building and financial management. In the year 2005, the Philippine Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) funded by the Australian International Development (AusAID) provided the organization with funding support to finance their organizational capacity-building activities, start-up working capital, and infrastructure and equipment acquisition. The processing center/building is one of the infrastructure support the organization has obtained from the project.




To date, TAWA processes a total of 18 kilograms of meat in a month. The organization generates around Php. 5,000.00 per month. Because of the meat processing project, women in the barangay/village now have a venue for an alternative source of livelihood/income. Based on the Barangay Development Plan (BDP) of Tubod, majority of the women (working age) do not have a stable source of income. Majority are plain housewives.

Aside from TAWA, four (4) other people's organizations/community-based organizations (POs/CBOs) in the Province of Camiguin are being assisted by the PACAP-AusAID through RCED. Of the five POs/CBOs, three are women organizations. The other two womens organization being assisted are the Balite2 Sea-Kaunlaran Womens Association and the South Poblacion Womens Association. The Balite2 Sea-Kaunlaran Womens Association is into trading and processing of fresh and dried squid, while the South Poblacion Womens Association is into the production and marketing of banana chips.

"Balaki Ko Dai / Dong" An Evening of Poetic Celebration

Got invited to watch a poetry reading activity sponsored and presented by the faculty, staff and students of the English Department, College of Arts and Sciences of Xavier University-Ateneo De Cagayan.

Badminton Mania

Since the beginning of this year (2007), I have been joining my wife in playing badminton. I got into badminton by accident. Having just returned from Afghanistan after 18 months of working there, I didn't have much to do. Aside from having time in my hands, I also felt that a little exercise would be good. As soon as I started playing, I got hooked.

The closest sport to badminton that I have learned to play is tennis and table tennis. The sport however that I have been involved in, since my elementary school days has been swimming.

After about two months playing the game, I came to like the sport. Aside from being easy to learn, the sport does not require sophisticated equipment and accessories. Badminton being known to be the fastest racket sport guarantees one to have a good sweat after a game. For me, this sport provides a good alternative to running, cycling or lifting weights as a form of exercise.





While resting in-between sets, I would take photos of friends, colleagues and players. Doing this provided me with an initial experience of shooting an indoor sport. Shooting indoor sports has its own challenges. The first thing I had to contend with is poor lighting. It does help to have the appropriate gear that can cope with situation like having fast lenses. Nevertheless, I have observed that familiarity with the sport being shot provides one with an advantage. Being familiar with the sport affords one to anticipate the moves of the players thus provides the photographer with a greater chance of capturing the photo that will tell the story.

Kaamulan Festival

Went up to the City of Malaybalay in the Province of Bukidnon last 3 March 2007 to shoot the street dancing parade in celebration of the Kaamulan Festival. The festival is a week long celebration that showcases the rich cultural heritage of the various tribes of "Lumads" or Indigenous People inhabiting the Province.