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Megdonio “Megs” R. Llamera, the area organizer for Milo Mindanao, recently announced that there are several sporting events to be held in the City of Golden Friendship.

First off is the multi-event MCA (Milo Champions Academy) Sports Clinics, which lasts for four weeks. Now on its second year, the Sports Clinics is said to start on May 1st and end on the 30th at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center. The month long event is supported by the Misamis Oriental Integrated Sports Council (MOISC), which is chaired by Gov. Oscar S. Moreno.

The Sports Clinics is composed of 13 events, including basketball, dance sports, swimming, taekwondo, volleyball, gymnastics, sepak takraw, table tennis, chess, athletics, lawn tennis, badminton and football.

Llamera, who also acts as the MOISC secretary and has been involved in the National Milo Marathon and Milo Little Olympics Mindanao for over a decade now, said that such sports disciplines were the same as in 2009, apart from dance sports, which has been included this year.

Enrollees are required to pay a minimal registration that ranges from P400 to 1,000, added Llamera.

The registration money would serve as honoraria for the veteran trainers, as well as payment for the rental of venues, majority of which are located in the Pelaez Sports Center.

Upon signing up for the event, each enrollee would get an official training shirt and ID. During the commencement of the graduates, they will get their training certificates. Top performers of the training will receive trophies and medals.

The deadline for the Milo Sports Clinics’ registration is on April 26, 2010, which is a Monday. This follows a first-come-first-served basis as the number of enrollees is limited to only 500.

For the time being, the Mindanao area organizer reported that the secretariat is already getting ready for the Milo Little Olympics Mindanao. The 14th edition of the event will take place on July 30th, 31st and August 1st 2010.

“We are holding the Milo Little Olympics Mindanao earlier because we shall be hosting the National Finals of the said event on Oct. 13-17, this year,” announced Llamera, who was responsible for the Mindanao delegation landing the third place in the 2009 opening show of the National Finals, which was held in Cebu City.

The fourth and final major sports affair in 2010 is the nation’s longest running National Milo Marathon regional eliminations. The 34th marathon event, which will be held in Cagayan de Oro City this November 28th, will have over 10,000 runners for the 21-km qualifying race, 10-km road run, 5-km open fun run and the 3-km kiddie class.

To get more information on the Milo Little Olympics, the National Milo Marathon, Milo Champions Academy Sports Clinic, interested enrollees can contact Mrs. Adelina G. Barros at this number: (08822) 727289. Parties can also visit Mrs. Barros at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center, which is along Don Apolinar Velez Street, Cagayan de Oro City.

-by Rose Anne Quirante-
(Photo taken from blueknightchessclub.files.wordpress.com)

Our underwater environments are facing serious problems – coral bleaching, pollution, climate change and overfishing are just a few of them. Although the oceans are massive expanses of water, human activity has taken a toll on the Earth’s health. Nonetheless, we can start creating change in our own way, such as taking part in the upcoming Dive for Earth Day.

For ten years, divers have helped protect underwater environments and put the importance of the oceans on the Earth Day map. This year, people will once again celebrate Dive for Earth Day, which will take place on April 22. Divers and volunteers are encouraged to attend the special event to promote awareness of the importance of our waters. The event also aims to take action on and address various environmental problems of coastal and marine areas.

This year’s Dive for Earth Day theme is “Protecting the Underwater World.”

In celebration of the event, Project AWARE Foundation has worked in conjunction with the Catalyst for Filipino Youth Development (CFYD) to organize a coral reef monitoring, beach and underwater mapping cleanup, as well as AWARE kids’ activities.

You do not have to be a part of these organizations to participate in Dive for Earth Day. Snorkelers, divers, families, individuals and just about anyone can help make a difference simply by contacting Christopher Ybañez, the CFYD president, at 0919-817-3295.

“Underwater volunteers are on the front lines taking action and collecting data for conservation,” said Henrik Nimb, the Asia Pacific Director of Project AWARE Foundation. “Protecting the ocean preserves the planet – including us.”

At present, thousands of volunteers and divers from more than 115 countries have helped educate local communities and protect marine life.

Nimb further revealed that the 2010 Earth Day celebration is in its 40th year. All the more reason to participate and help improve the ocean’s health.

Dive for Earth Day is a major event done in observance of Earth Day, an international celebration that promotes the conservation of our natural resources, as well as awareness of the environment.

-by Gillian Abonitalla-
(Photo taken from diveshoppe2003.files.wordpress.com)

Held in the town of Mambajao, Camiguin, the Lanzones Festival is observed every third week of October, which marks the beginning of the harvest season of this tropical fruit. The festival lasts for four days and is well-known across the Philippines. Thus, it’s no surprise to find a lot of tourists flocking to Camiguin around this time of the year.

Why Lanzones?

Lanzones is the gold-colored, extra sweet fruit that grows mostly in the north-central coast of Mindanao. It’s also a major produce in Camiguin. In fact, it’s one of the main sources of income for many residents. Although the fruit can be found in other places around the country, many love Camiguin’s lanzones for its sweet, perfect taste. And since the fruit has been a chief source of livelihood, residents observe the Lanzones Festival as a form of thanksgiving.

Features of the Festival

The festival is usually marked by costume displays, street dancing, parades, and pageants galore.

People can also find an exhibit focused on the agri-cottage industry, which presents local handicrafts and other products. There are also indigenous sports activities, barangay beautification competitions, local culture presentations, and the grand parade of the lanzones.

During the parade, festival goers will see houses, carriages, street poles, and even people all covered and decorated with lanzones fruits and leaves. There is also street dancing that portrays the culture and tradition of the country’s indigenous ethnic groups. Also, a part of the parade is the depiction of the legend of a beautiful unknown maiden who took the fruit’s bitter taste to make it luscious and sweet. Here, the streets will become a lively, colorful stage where Mindanao tribes strut their stuff and dance till they drop to give thanks to a bountiful harvest.

The Lanzones Festival is also the time for the annual Miss Camiguin Tourism beauty pageant, a competition where people will see the some of the most beautiful women of Camiguin.

Legend of the Lanzones Festival

According to local folklore, the celebration all started when a childless couple wished for a child from a lanzones tree fairy. The fairy granted their wish and gave them a healthy baby boy, but the couple forgot to thank her. One day, a suspicious looking woman approached the young boy while he was playing, then the child suddenly fell unconscious. The parents thought it was the work of the lanzones fairy, so they decided to perform a ritual to appease the fairy. And, sure enough, the child eventually became well again.

It is said that the couple invited others to join them in the ritual the following year. From then on, the ritual became an annual ceremony in Camiguin; one that also celebrated abundant harvest and good weather.

Camiguin’s Natural Beauty

Located just off the coast of Northern Mindanao, Camiguin has contributed to making Mindanao a cultural tourist destination. Their Lanzones Festival is one event where people will see natural beauty and cultural traditions all at once. Not only does the festival present the abundance of this extra sweet fruit, it also exhibits the rich culture of the province through dance and competitions.

-by Gillian Abonitalla-
(Photos taken from hubimg.com, manilenio.com and wxs.nl)

The use of the country’s first ever automated elections system was discussed last October 2009 during the Philippine Press Institute’s seminar. The seminar, which lasted three days, was held at the Pearlmont Inn in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Cagayan de Oro city.

The seminar was themed “Preparing for the 2010 Elections – The Practice.” The brief seminar covered certain issues connected to the implementation of the AES in the upcoming 2010 elections.

One of the goals of the seminar is to help the 33 delegates coming from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to prepare for their coverage of the 2010 elections for each of their respective newspapers by gearing them up with the proper tools.

According to the PPI executive director, Jose L. Pavia, there is a need for the people to know, demonstrate and explore the historical importance of the automated elections since this will be the first time that the AES will be implemented by the poll body all over the country.

The participants of the seminar were briefed about the salient points of the system by the Smartmatic-TIM presentations and demonstrations coordinator, Miguel Eugenio Avila. Apart from this, they also witnessed a live demonstration on how the PCOS, or the Precinct Count Optical Scanner, works. This particular Precinct Count Optical Scanner is one of the automated election system’s most important components.

The multinational service provider, Smartmatic-TIM, was hired by the COMELEC to provide all the software and hardware needed to set up the entire process of automated elections, including the balloting and canvassing and everything in between in all 80,000 precincts nationwide in May 2010.

Several other familiar concerns regarding the preparedness of the poll automation and COMELEC with regards to public offerings and voter’s education were also raised during the seminar. Apart from this, their preparedness to deal with safeguarding against fake ballots and verifying the accuracy of the count was also covered.

During the seminar, the participants were asked to take part in a mock exercise in order for them to have an idea of how the automated elections work. They were asked to fill up mock ballots that they fed into the slot of a black box, which is known as the aforementioned Precinct Count Optical Scanner. It was a brief exercise. In fact, the last process only took 10 seconds long.

The Commission on Elections’ preparations for the implementation of the automated election system in the upcoming May elections was held just a week after the filing of certificates of candidacy was finished.

Apart from holding the seminar last October, the personnel of the COMELEC office in Northern Mindanao also conducted several information drives in different barangays all over the region. According to the COMELEC registrar’s personnel, Renato Magbutay, his team has already started conducting a bunch of seminars and reviews regarding the automated poll in order to familiarize the voters with the new voting process that will be followed during the elections in May.

-by Mara Tismo-
(Photo taken from images.inquirer.net)