I love Mindanao. Just the fact that my mother hailed from Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte, and my father was once an adapted son of Mindanao – made me love this home of my lineage. It was there where Tatay met and fell in love with my Nanay. Growing up in a quite closely knit family, I found it exciting whenever my parents’ relatives come for a visit and I enjoyed listening to their banters and story with their thick Mindanaoan accent. That was why I was more than happy to have my first out of town assignment as a journalist in Davao City sometime in the late ‘80s. The moment I set foot on this vast, not yet populous and still undeveloped city at that time, the more I fell in love with Mindanao even if our group was told “that the NPA had just left the city.” Meaning it used to be NPA-infested until such time the city decided to put up the Apo Duwaling Festival which today has come to be known as Kadayawan. Since then, I have always wanted to come back to Davao and see the re...

Over a span of two decades in the Multi-Level Marketing industry, Edmark has proven its brand in 28 countries with its International Standard Operation (ISO) certified products. As it continues to innovate new products, Edmark is now bringing the Philippines the all-new Troika, Café Power Black and N4S. Troika is a premium gourmet coffee while Café Power Black lives up to its name as black coffee made from the best quality coffee beans and blended with ganoderma extracts. The N4s [pronounced as Enforce], made from sucralose, is a calorie-free sugar substitute. A sugar replacement, perfect for diabetics, N4s is up to 600 times sweeter than normal sugar. Troika is blended with ginseng, tongkat ali and ganoderma extracts. Ginseng has been used for thousands of years to further improve the overall health of human being. Ancient Chinese herbal traditions also prescribe that ginseng is effective for enlightening the mind and increasing wisdom. Ginseng coffee such a...

(Story and Photos By Leony R. Garcia) Beautiful tapestries in lovely and happy hues adorn the homey office cum art center of St. Francis School-VSA arts Philippines, Inc. in its headquarter in Quezon City. VSA stands for Vision of an inclusive community; Strength in shared resources; Artistic expression that unites us all.  Being displayed along with the handwoven clothes are threads of various kinds and colors, and products made out of these clothes – from cute kikay bags to eco and lady’s bags, wallets, passport holders, hats, headdresses, scarves, shawls, vests, t-shirts, unisex tops and dresses. Taking the center stage of the art room are two Japanese handlooms which is called Saori. And here’s the amazing revelation: the tapestries were woven by the talented students with disabilities and special needs of St. Francis School using these cute, portable handlooms from Japan. VSA Executive Director Becky Santos with visitors from Daiso Japan, Bernice and Melanie ...