ariellalisan.org – Homeward Bound

IT DOESN’T always feel like this, but there’s a kind of gloom reigning in the atmosphere today. Is it the rain or my poor health condition? Whatever it is, like it has always been said, the show must go on.

It must.

Let me tell you about what happened last week. It’s been raining here, like, forever, you know. Despite my good diet, intake of food supplement, exercise, and enough rest, my immune system still broke down. So, I was absent for two days last week but still had to report to school Saturday for the entrance exam for incoming freshmen students and Sunday, I had to attend my class.

I COULDN’T forget the fear that suddenly engulfed the whole province of Sarangani when news broke that the town of Maasim was attacked by MILF forces last August, following the abortion of the MOA on the MILF of Ancestral Domain.

Classes were suspended and schedules were changed to ensure the safety of the students. But it was worse in areas that were greatly affected, like the towns of Maasim, Kiamba, and Maitum, people were displaced, many got ill, and even some have died.

But we are very thankful that the tension had ceased. Peace has been restored. In fact, the province is gearing up for the celebration of its 16th Foundation Anniversary and 6th MunaTo Festival last week of November. Also, the whole island of Mindanao is celebrating the Mindanao Week of Peace.

The best way to celebrate peace, however, is not through attending parties and merriment.

MY PHONE is not a high-end one but I have turned it into a gadget of multi functionality courtesy of free mobile downloads.

I can now check my mail, connect with friends via IM, surf the web, and update this blog! My phone actually doesn’t support Gmail but I downloaded a mobile software that now allows me to access my Gmail account, anytime, anywhere.

I am using Globe INET, which charges me Php 5.00 per 15 minutes. That’s Php 20 per hour. I am quite satisfied with the connection speed. Maybe, I just didn’t have high expectations, taking note that I’m here in the province.

The downside of Globe’s GPRS service is that, if your connection is interrupted before your 15-minute surfing time ends, you have to pay the full 15-minute’s worth of GPRS connection. The default scheme is per kilobyte, I think its Php 0.15 per kb. That’s too expensive. That means more Php 100 per 1MB download. To shift to the time scheme, text TIME to 1111 for free.

I HAVE been contemplating to write a post about this two weeks ago but I had been very busy (an understatement) so I’m writing about it only now.

It’s true, our municipal officials, led by our Vice-Mayor Vic Paul Salarda, are preparing the necessary documents for our town’s cityhood. Two weeks ago, it was officially announced at the municipal hall. They are seeing to it that before the the congress opens this November, all the documents shall have been submitted.

There is no question about Alabel being qualified as a city. Even the Mayor of the nearby General Santos City agrees with it. On TV, he said that in terms of income, land area, and population, Alabel is ready to become a city.

So am I excited about it? Amused is more apt, I guess.

I roamed around to see if the place is really ready to become a city. The public market, a mega-market according to the signboard, is still under construction.

IT COULD just be paranoia but we could never risk the safety of our children.

12:52 PM Our principal called for an emergency meeting, the second meeting we had today that zeroed in on matters of safety and security. The schools has received calls that messages were circulating about schools in General Santos City whose students and teachers were hostaged. We were not very sure of the report but for the reason that we have to secure the safety of our students, we have decided to send them home.