Posts Under Feature Category
Yesiree, we’re a family of dwarves: so what?!
KALAMANSIG, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews/24 April) – They won’t basically stand out in a crowd but they have “rock star” popularity, at least in the locality. At this remote coastal municipality… »
PERSONAL ESSAY: Who would pull the trigger against this gentle Tausug?
Alber Husin is dead. Like Gene Boyd Lumawag, Mindanews’ photo editor, he was gunned down. Both were very dear to me. Alber was shot in Pagadian City evening of February… »
PERSONAL ESSAY: A letter to Bro. Alber Husin
Dear Brother Alber, Assalamu Alaikum warakmatullahiwabarakathuh! When a member of our family, a relative, or a friend is hurt, my initial reaction has always been to ask them, “sino ang… »
PERSONAL ESSAY: Requiem to a Gun-less Warrior
“At the age of eight, I witnessed a massacre which I barely escaped from and where we lost three uncles and an aunt. Vividly, I could still recall the smoking… »
Flashback: Strings of flood in my childhood
BUTUAN CITY ( MindaNews/ January 25 )- When a friend in Davao City posted on Facebook that she is now officially a certified flood victim, I was tempted to tell her… »
FEATURE: Remembering ComVal
BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/19 January) — Strangely, I always associate Compostela Valley with Mawab, a once tiny village settled along the Davao-Butuan highway. Mawab, created as a regular municipality in 1959,… »
Now, we understand what the phrase “Morag naagian og bagyo” means
CATEEL, Davao Oriental (MindaNews/31 Dec) — At its strongest, Bagyo Pablo reached the category of a super typhoon with sustained winds of 259 kph. Its diameter was 600 km, its… »
Coming Down Blood Mountains
Their vividly colored indigenous clothing shout like a blast of dynamite ripping through the mountains they call home. It is Tuesday and they are standing in a busy avenue in… »
Islam’s Quiet Birthday Celebration in Simunul
632nd FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY OF ISLAM IN THE PHILIPPINES Islam’s Quiet Birthday Celebration in Simunul By Red Batario with additional reporting from G Sevilla Alvarez TUBIG INDANGAN, Simunul, Tawi-Tawi (MindaNews /… »
From battlegrounds to playgrounds: smiles and hopes for peace in Datu Piang
DATU PIANG, Maguindanao (MindaNews/03 Nov) — The Children’s Park here belongs to the children once again, smiling boys and girls going up and down the playground slide or running around… »
Peace, the Rambo generation and stories from the frontlines, away from the frontlines
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/21 October) – I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have witnessed and documented the most historic event for Mindanao, the signing of the Framework Agreement on… »
Words for his flock were Fr. Pops’ last will and testament
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/19 Oct) – While most people’s last will and testament talks about the transfer of their wealth or properties on this Earth to other people, there’s no such… »
Moving on: no more battles, no more gunshots, no more bloodshed
ALEOSAN, North Cotabato (MindaNews/17 October) – From the highest point in Barangay Bagolibas, Mayor Loreto Cabaya pointed to our team the rice paddies which used to be “hot spots” in… »
University of the Waves
MATI CITY (MindaNews/7 Oct) – It was five o’clock in the morning on a fine weather Sunday when players of Team Amihan, a Filipino term for northeast monsoon, gathered at… »
‘Random Girl’ gets invite from Ellen
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/7 Oct) – Bubbly Zendee Rose Tenerefe is on the roll. She is leaving for Tinseltown anytime next week. Destination: the Ellen DeGeneres show. The 21-year-old Zendee… »
Drink ‘bahalina’ all you can and get ‘no hangover’
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22 September) – For non-drinkers, this beverage would often be mistaken as vinegar because of its sour smell as well as its color. For others, they would inaccurately… »
Lake Maughan tragedy: 17 years later, case still not closed
T’BOLI, South Cotabato(MindaNews/5 Sept) – Brothers Martin Jr. and Marlon Faba are fresh military graduates, holding start-up ranks in their assignment at the Davao region. Their sister Margie, on the other… »
‘Bakwits’ lament living life on the run
PIKIT, North Cotabato(MindaNews/25 August) – Most villagers in a refugee camp here are no longer strangers to evacuation. They have “mastered” the art of evacuation even if tensions are still… »
John Butiu and other homegrown stories
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 July) – Around this time last year, in a conversation with then Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, I asked him what “secularistic” meant. He answered that it roughly… »
At the madrasah in Cuyapon, the students graduate in July
KABACAN, North Cotabato (MindaNews/09 July) — Purok Malimo in the small village of Cuyapon here was abuzz. Women were busy preparing food, men were busy fixing up the stage, and children clad in their abayas and kopias, and some in togas were milling around, excited for one of the most important events of their lives: graduation day.
Water hyacinth venture of ‘reformers’ brings livelihood, peace
PIGCAWAYAN, NORTH COTABATO (MindaNews/12 June)—True to their faith, a couple in this rustic first-class town has proven their worth as the “reformers.” They live ordinary lives, a hint of affluent… »
Siargao’s queen of tides
GENERAL LUNA, Surigao del Norte (MindaNews/29 May) — After topping the Roxy International Women Surfing Competition where she bested surfers from Australia, Germany, England, Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, USA and local… »
FEATURE: Conquering heights (and fear of it)
MAASIM, Sarangani (MindaNews/21 May) – It is one acrophobic’s worst nightmare but also a child’s ultimate fantasy fulfillment. How many of us once dreamed we are the caped action heroes who crushed the evil and outlaws and once saved a damsel from falling from the Empire State building, or wherever, like Superman?
Money from waste: Women earn from durian husk
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 May) – Waste doesn’t have to be wasted away. This an NGO for the development of women has proved with a project on making paper out of… »
Not just OK in Ayoke
AYOKE ISLAND, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews/02 May) — Before heading to this island, I tried to search anything about it on the Internet but nothing turned up. Not until… »
Summers in Lolo’s farm
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/24 April) – As a child and early teener, I spent many summers in Lolo’s farm, which is roughly five kilometers away from home. Five kilometers may not… »
Italian priest cooks for Lumad children
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/16 March) – Ninety kilometers from the heart of the city, beside the slopes of Barangay Buda, sits an artisan gourmet café. But this café is unlike any… »
The woman farmers of Ibuan and Hawilian
LANUZA, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews/07 March) – Who says farming is plainly a man’s work, and women should not do it simply because they could hardly endure this backbreaking job… »
The boat maker of Calanggaman
BUENAVISTA, Agusan del Norte (MindaNews/13 January) — At least thirty outrigger boats line the entire stretch of the shore of Calanggaman, probably this town’s biggest fishing village, obscuring the view… »
Covering Pantukan, the second time around
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 January) – Ruby and I were supposed to finish editing the photos we took on the aftermath of Tropical Storm Sendong Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan… »
8-year old Abegail: “It was OK for me to drown as long as they would survive”
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/05 January) – It is difficult to imagine that this frail little girl of 8 years would survive the blind fury of Storm Sendong. Abegail Jamero was… »
The Red Ball Express: 10th ID version
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/23 December) – Playing too much computer games makes some sense, sometimes. When I got a message from Maj. Jacob Obligado, chief of the 10th Civil Military Operations… »
Kin of missing victims in Baungon torn between searching and grieving
LIBORAN, Baungon, Bukidnon (MindaNews/22 Dec) – Farmer Reynor Doluna, 53, could still not accept that his namesake son is gone. Five days after it happened, his family is still at… »
Unsinkable Pinay in the floods of Iligan City
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/20 December) – We doctors have a knee jerk reaction to disasters: medical mission. So, I joined the Iligan Medical Society and the Iligan Society of Internists as… »
We’ll miss you, Bapa Butch
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – We fondly call him as “Bapa Butch.” Many NGO workers across Southwestern Mindanao would mourn his passing. He died this morning on November 16, 2011.… »
Lolong: the second most famous Mindanawon (after Manny Pacquiao)
CONSUELO, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews/15 November) – At the entrance to the eco-park where the 20.3 feet long Lolong, the world’s largest crocodile, now lives, visitors queue for tickets… »
OctoTrek: Sembreak at 10 degrees Celsius up Mt. Apo
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/30 Sept) – While many mountaineers and nature lovers prefer to take an adventure trek up the country’s highest peak during summer, some would also dare to climb… »
North Cotabato: Flavors of the road
While landmarks could be most common travel guide, the native delicacies sold in terminals and even along the highways could also tell you where you are. Such is the case… »
Traditional farming practices of the Bukidnon tribe
This article looks like just a collection of the practical aspects of Bukidnon life. There is a deeper significance, however, to be observed in many of these practices. These, too, are part of their culture, connected to it through construction of meanings that incorporate them into the greater whole. These traditional practices make use of the resources that spring from the land. Practicing them allows the cultural meanings attached to them to deepen the tribe’s connection to their ancestral domain.
The hitchhiking teachers of Marilog District
MARILOG DISTRICT, Davao City (MindaNews/6 June) – Who says backpackers are the only good hitchhikers? Count the teachers assigned in this district who may have mastered the art of hitchhiking after all these years. Public school teacher Marilyn Camarillo wakes up at 4 a.m. everyday to prepare her packed lunch, which she would bring to school. Camarillo, who lives in barangay Maa, has to take a jeepney going to Ulas junction as early as 6 a.m. because she needs to catch the 7:30 a.m. flag ceremony at the Sto. Niño Elementary School at Barangay Datu Salumay in this district.
A Summer with Gawad Kalinga
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/01 June) — For the average teenager, life revolves around Facebook, parties, and relationships. The biggest problem he’s faced might have been about winning over that girl in Psychology class, or perhaps about convincing his parents to give him an extra P500. He might have stepped out of Jollibee, stomach full, arms heavy with pasalubong, to be swarmed by street kids reaching for his food.
