WHEN I bought my Honda XRM-125 last year, I was told that it would be a hot item for carjackers on the road. I did not feel fear then. With the ubiquity of motorcycles on the road, I did not think I would get noticed by these bad elements. When the news broke last week, however, I started to fear for my own life.

Photo Courtesy of Rencalago.com

Last week, a habal-habal (motrcycle-for-hire) driver from my hometown was reportedly killed by an unidentified man, who also stole the driver’s vehicle. When I heard about it, it was already the third case of the same crime that took place in a span of just one week. The crime was carried out in the outskirts of my hometown.

JUST BEFORE her term ends, outgoing Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes of South Cotabato finally signed the controversial Environment Code whose provisions include the prohibition of open pit mining in the province.

A bold move, the ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is the first local government initiative in the country to ban open pit mining, a method of mineral extraction that the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, a national law, allows.

Image from bworld.com

The Environment Code directly affects the operation of the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), which is set to extract copper and gold in the municipality of Tampakan, South Cotabato.

CONGRESSMAN EMMANUEL Pacquiao has been sworn into office as Representative of the Lone District of Sarangani to the Congress this morning at the Provincial Capitol Park, Alabel, Sarangani Province during the Inauguration Program officiated by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

According to reports Pacquiao personally requested Judge Jaime Y. Infante to be the inducting officer, so the latter assisted Justice Carpio during Pacquiao’s oath taking.

Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez also took his oath for his last term as the province’s governor.

In his speech, he highlighted how Sarangani has improved from being the fourth poorest province in 2004 to being the 14th after his two terms as governor.

IN CELEBRATION of GandaEverSoMuch.com’s first blogoversary in August, blogger Orman Manansala is giving away prizes every week to lucky participants.

His first contest is the This-Is-Not-Just-For-Bloggers Contest, which, as the name suggests, is not a blog writing contest. It is open for those who have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and other social networking site.

GandaEverSoMuch.com is probably one of the most influential blogs this year. The blog contains a collection of funny and sometimes emo posts about the author’s colorful life. You won’t get disappointed each time you visit the blog because you would always read something new as the author updates his blog everyday, whether he’s happy or sad, his posts won’t fail to make you smile.

THE CHALLENGE with writing this post is how to narrate in a few words a series of fantastic adventures that took place in a weekend everybody wished to have never ended, and great moments spent with people I hoped to have had more time to share with each other. The First Mindanao Food Appreciation Tour and SoCCSKSarGen Summer Safari, which gathered bloggers from Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Kidapawan City in General Santos City to meet the bloggers in the SoCCSKSarGen area and visit places of interest here, have been filled with exciting adventures and memories that will forever be cherished.

THE SUMMER break is about to end. I have almost given up on my hope that this year’s break could match the fun I had last year. But moments with fellow bloggers in Southern Mindanao have spiced up my would-have-been boring summer. And yes, just before the rainy season begins, my fellow bloggers in SoCCSKSarGen, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro will make sure that, again, I could say I had one great summer this year.

Tomorrow ( er, that’s later today I forgot it’s a few minutes after midnight already) at 8PM, bloggers will converge at Piyesta KTV Bar in Robinson’s Place GenSan for the SoCCSKSarGen Grand Eyeball. Here’s the poster designed by Rabsky:

ONE LAZY afternoon, I sat by our store, watching people pass by. I have always been amused with seeing people wear different faces and walk toward different directions at their own pace. To me, they are like characters in a movie, where each of them is the protagonist of his own story.

And the story that unfolded before me that afternoon was of the blind fiddler. They looked like beggars as they moved from one house to another. But I didn’t see them as such. To me, they are musicians. They are using their talent to make a living, just like anyone among us–only, they didn’t have better opportunities in their youth to enhance and showcase their gift. If they had, they should have been in a better situation now.