Chorale : Musicians of Christmas

A choir 

Hark! how the bells

Sweet silver bells

All seem to say,

"Throw cares away."

Christmas is here

Bringing good cheer

To young and old

Meek and the bold

Lyrics taken from a christmas classic song Carol of the bells.

A group of singer, side by side and standing close to each other, forming semi-circle with one leading them with his gestures of his arms and hands. Angelic voices that fill the room with Christmas spirit. A chorale.

It's 'ber' months and here in the Philippines everyone can already feel that Christmas is around the corner. And the sound of Christmas holiday are beginning to be heard everywhere.

What makes Christmas season much more special is not just Christmas decors hanging along the streets, also the different vibe Christmas music is giving us.

Christmas music is part of our daily lives during holiday season, Christmas is not complete without the sound of Christmas musics.

And the most common carolers that is heard during Christmas holidays are different groups of chorale. They are the most in demand during these times. 

A choir is most commonly a band of singers in a church chorus. But nowadays choir choir is not only found in churches, schools, foundations, organizations and even corporate companies have their respective choral. And during Christmas season they get to showcase their talents and perform their Christmas carols for us.

One example of a foundation where they have their own choral is the Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation Inc., It is a foundation where they give privilege to those children that has a passion in arts but didn't have the financial means of pursuing their crafts. According to their mission and vision;

The Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, Inc. aims to contribute to the alleviation of poverty and the societal conditions to which it leads by cultivating     the inborn talents of our underprivileged youth in culture and arts, and in the process, helping them to develop the attitude, discipline and confidence they need to become pro-active, responsible and independent members of the community.

As a matter of fact I'm also part of the member of the said organization.
Here is a video taken last October 09,2012 during our rehearsal for our show. 

I get to interview one of my co-member in the said organization, which is also my sister Samantha Gomia Bual. Here is my interview with her.

How long have you been  member of a choir/chorale ?

For about six or eight years ? since when I'm in grade six

In what choral group are you joining as a member now?

for now there's two, the first one is QCPADFI which was my only group back then, that was since grade 6, and now I also joined the UE chorale.

What are the best things of being a choir member ?

Things like, I get to perform in front of many people, boost my self confidence, i get to meet a lot of people and get to make new friends.

Is Christmas season the most in demand season for a chorale?

Of course, during Christmas season many are organizing their respective parties, many people are inviting choirs for them to make their parties feel happier, also during these times, Christmas songs are a hit.



The recent Christmas performance that QCPADFI youth choir attended is a TV guesting to TV5's Good Morning Club, we performed some of Christmas classics like, Joy to the world, Hark the Herald, Angels We Have Heard On High, Namamasko and many more.  

here are some videos taken from our performance during TV5's Good morning club guesting. In these videos we sang Namamasko and Angels We Have Heard On High.

During our guest performance in TV5's Good Morning Club

TV5's Good Morning Club Christmas Special

Music gives color to our holidays, and make Christmas much more special. According to Wikipedia, it is considered that music was part of Christmas feast during those early times.Christmas music will not also be possible without the musicians who will sing for it, that's why there is something like choir/chorale. Music is a universal language it can express feeling without by just speaking it, but also by singing to it, that is what Christmas music is giving us the vibe of Christmas season.

WordPress Infographics

Insights on PDAF and VILP report of Commission on Audit

The report on PDAF( Priority Development Assistance Fund) and VILP( Various Infratructures including Local Projects) shows that in every senator there is an allocation of Php200,000,000 for their soft projects which is their PDAF and hard projects under the VILP.


The report also shows that there is an allocated amount of Php 70,000,000 for every congresional district and partylist representative.

The report had many holes, because of the unefficient release of schedules of the PDAF and VILP allocations.

Pinoy celeb break ups: From I do's to I sue

After marching in the aisle, they are now marching in and out of the courtrooms for custody rights and to eventually annul their marriage. What made their fairy tale love story turned into bitter sweet, and come to its end?

Celebrity marriages fail for the same reasons that normal people do. The difference is that it is given emphasis by media. And because it is given emphasis , every celebrity couple break up is sensationalize. Issues starts to unfold and reach to the point of filing charges against each other. usually the first to throw is the wife.

For example  the two most known couple in show business, Sunshine Cruz and Cesar Montano, Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto, both couples were confirmed to part ways this year 2013. The reason for the split up of Sunshine and Cesar is because of third party, Cesar having an alleged affair with model-actress Krista Miller. The case of Raymart and Claudine being different, as Claudine files abuse charges against his estranged husband Raymart.

After seven years of being together Raymart and Claudine was confirmed to be separated because of claims that Raymart is abusing Claudine physicaly. In a photo posted by her in photo sharing website Instagram, it is seen that in her right cheek seems to have bruise, which alarms the netizens that she might have experiencing domestic violence. The photo was immediately deleted that same day. Consequently, after the rumor Claudine filed a petition for a temporary protection order (TPO) against Raymart, this would prevent her estranged husband from getting within 300 meters of her and their two children. 

Contrary to that Raymart denied the accusations, in an interview with him in 24 oras, Santiago said he cannot do something like what was his wife is accusing of him, he said that he cannot hurt any member of his family.

Another celebrity married couple that has made a sound on their recent separation is Cesar Montano and his wife Sunshine Cruz. The two had some previous family issues because of Cesar being involved o his co-workers in show business, but the couple denied separating issues. Unfortunately, months after the controversy that Cesar is having an affair with his co-worker Krista Miller in their indie movie,“The Turning Cradle: The Untold Story of Alfredo Lim” Sunshine announced that two of them separated, although it is noted that Cesar is exerting an effort to reconcile and to preserve their matrimony. In an interview, Sunshine said that she had enough of Cesar's womanizing activities, and 13 years is enough. In a like manner, Cesar also denied the complaint by his wife that he employed physical violence and marital raped.

Like any other married couples with irreconcilable differences, what made celebrity couples different is that they are public figure, although issues like separations are personal matters, people wants to know about the details, that is why even though there are normal couple that have the same case as them that reach to the point of filing charges against each other, it is being sensationalize when it comes to celebrities like them since they are public figures.

It is normal for a couple when they are unhappy in their married life, to find grounds for them to have their marriage annulled, and it needs to have court proceedings. On the other hand, celebrity marriages that are separating are calling attention to the people because of charges that the other party is accusing to the other party. People find it interesting that their personal matters are being emphasize by the media, and being a celebrity, they like the attention. The he said, she said, back and forth interviews just shows that they too wants the people to know the details, instead of them having it in a private procedures.

Looking back to all the celebrity married couples, their beginning were all about proclaiming about their love for each other and how they would want to spend their whole life with each other, now, they throwing back and forth words just to get back to each other. One factor that might have been made a huge contributions to their failed marriage is that everything about them is publicized, they do not have privacy anymore. From the beginning they were just dating to the time being that they got married was all open to the public that is why even their separation is known and is sensationalized. Problems are getting worse when many wants to butt their way in.

In this incident, the most affected are their children, they have no idea what is happening, they are just in the middle of two bumping walls. This can have big effect on their psychological and emotional status as a child, because they are in the midst of a chaotic situation their family is experiencing.

In the light of this issue we can conclude that media, also has a big role in sensationalized celebrity couple break ups here in the Philippines, because they give emphasis on this events, and people starts to make a big fuss about it.

Jomari Malining Rios: Real life Teledrama

“Ganito kasi yan, may sariling pamilya si mama, ganun din si papa, aksidente lang ang pagkakabuo ko , ( No, this is what happened, my mom has her own family and so as my father, I was just born accidentally)", that is what he said when I got confused because of what he’s trying to say. They are four in his mother side and he is the youngest, while in his father side they are five but he is second eldest.

At first I thought he is from a broken family but when I asked him if they are broken, and that is the answer I got, I completely understood why.

Life is complicated, but is more complicated when you are born in a much more complicated situation. That is what I realized after the interview with one of my classmate, Rios.

Jomari Malining Rios, or whom some of our other classmates called as Rios, his surname. He added that he has other nicknames too, like Jom or Jay. He is 18 years old and is living with his mother in Payatas, Quezon City. He was born on January 27,1995. He got three provinces, Davao, Bohol and Iloilo.

All first time is unforgettable, and for him all first time is also scary because you don’t know what to expect. The thought of not graduating is also one of his fears. He’s also a little bit scared of heights.

For him almost all that has happened to him is silly or naughty. There’s this one incident when he is on the way to fetch his other classmate, he slipped and fell into a dike. Another silly moment is when he is in high school, he is trying to do a step where he is supposed to spin, when he did it his catarrh also spin along because he has colds that day, it’s not just silly but also funny thing that happened to him. He used to bully other kids also now, for him is silly. Also, he was chased three times for violating curfew in their barangay, another naughty thing he did back then.

He also had failures in his life, like not easily adapting with college choirs, because of loads of work in one of our subject during our first year in college; he got disappointed with his not so good grade. It happened again when he is in second year in our Economics subject.

The happiest moments in his life are when he met his circles of friends during his high school and college years. When he was able to perform as a member or our college dance crew The movers and motion, and when our other classmates along with him came to build their own dance crew the Delta force. His grades are also improving during the past years if him being a college student, and his father is starting to accept him as his son, little by little. The support his other siblings in his mother side, are also one of the things that makes him happy.

At the end of our interview he cites his goals in his next five years in life. First and foremost, he would like to graduate, and to find a stable job. After that he added that he might want to pursue to study law or psychology, or both, he said. He also wants to continue to pursue his other passion, dancing.

Little did I know about Jomari, but after my interview with him I realized so many things about him, and that there’s so much more to him. His life is indeed a real life teledrama, but although his existence is like a soap drama in the television, he is not a dramatic person, I find him a funny, happy and positive person to be with.

White Angel

Flowers that look like little stars, or with some imagination, snowflakes from a distance. Scientific name Wrightia antidysenterica or what we call here in the Philippines as "White Angel", it is the flower that caught my attention while wandering near our building PUP College of Communication.

Its color, white, has a meaning of being pure, innocence and being harmless. Whenever I see white flowers like this one that I saw, I felt those kinds of emotion.

These flowers are small and white and they’re called white angels. The person who gave them their name must have seen an angel to conclude that they look similar. 

Tansan for Tambourine

Whenever I hear about crown cap or most commonly called here in Philippines as Tansan, I always thought of Christmas season, maybe because whenever I see tansan , I think of it as an instrument used by carolers during Christmas season.

The crown cork ( also known as a crown seal, crown cap or just a cap ), the first form of bottle cap, was invented by William Painter in 1892 in Baltimore.It's primary purpose is to seal the bottle.

Crown corks are collected by people around the world who admire the variety of designs and relative case of storage. In Mexico, these are called corcholates. In Spain, as well as in South America, the name chapitas is used, while here in the Philippines the term tansan is employed.

link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_cork

Bad effects of cigarette smoking

Smoking is bad for your health. Read and seen for the nth time by many of us, but still cigarette smoking is unstoppable among the people who engaged in smoking.

A cigarette is a small cylinder of finely cut tobacco leaves rolled in thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; it's smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well. Cigarettes carry serious health effects with them, which are more prevalent than in other tobacco products. Nicotine, the primary psychoactive chemical in tobacco and therefore cigarette, is addictive.

Therefore cigarette smoking is indeed bad for health, about half of cigarette smokers die of tobacco related disease and lose on average 14 years of life. Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to cause birth weight, fetal abnormalities, and premature birth. Second hand smoke from cigarette has shown to be injurious to bystanders.

link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette

Veracity of VERA Files

"Truth is our business". The tagline used by verafiles.org a website that produces in-depth reports on current events. Vera is a Latin word which means genuine, real or true, which sum up the main goal of VERA Files, to publish veracious reports.

Founded in March 14,2008, VERA Files is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues. Yvonne Chua, Booma Cruz, Luz Rimban, Jennifer Santiago, Ellen Tordesillas, and founding trustee Chit Estrella who passed away last May 13,2011, are the journalists that constitute the board of trustees and main writers of VERA Files.

VERA Files contains not only current issues but also reports on relevant issues in the country, an example is the Human Right Case Watch, a project of VERA Files. Human Right Case Watch focused on media attention on a set of carefully selected cases from all over the country. VERA Files assigned these cases to local or national journalists who have established a reputation of reliability and credibility. With mentoring from VERA Files, these journalists produced a range of stories on each case. The stories were published by VERA Files and were syndicated to mainstream media outlets, including Yahoo! Philippines.

This project is a collaboration between VERA Files and select Metro Manila and community journalists to monitor and report on human rights violations, focusing on extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearance.

VERA Files intends to shine light on little known or forgotten stories of extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, in the hope that such coverage will prompt official actions.

As the saying goes " the truth will set you free", VERA Files indeed set the people free, free from deception, for publishing such truthful and just reports.


links:
http://verafiles.org/
http://hrcw.verafiles.org/human-rights-case-watch/about-the-project/
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/224340/news/nation/chit-estella-awards-for-journalism-launched

Fourty-two year old mother died in a fire

A fourty-two year old mother declared dead on arrival at La Loma Hospital, after a fire blazed in a shanty community, in Manila this Friday morning.

Deputy fire marshal Jose Waling of the Bureau of Fire Protection said that the fire started in a shanty house of a family with three kids. The father left a lit candle unattended before going to his night work,leaving his three kids and their mother alone in the room. A neighbor smelled the smoke, and called the nearby fire station immediately.

Waling said that volunteer firefighters managed to pull the three kids and their mother out their house. At least  
three men and four women sustained minor injuries from the blaze, while two fire volunteers were rushed to the hospital due to suffocation. All of the victims were brought to the La Loma Hospital. The spokeswoman in the hospital said that the 42 yr.old mother of the three children suffered third degree burns and was declared dead on arrival,while the three children in critical condition with first to second degree burns. The father of the three children was in shock and can't be interviewed.

Waling adds that the damage to property was estimated at Php 5,000,000.