An Open Letter from a Zamboangueño

To my fellow Filipinos,

Magandang araw!

My name is Joseph Araneta and I’m a Zamboangueño. I’m one of the many families affected by the on-going crisis with the MNLF.

With 10 kilometers away from the combat areas, I hear gunshots fired, see the thick smoke from fires started by the MNLF and hear the wails of my fellow Zamboangueños. I live in fear for myself and my family, thinking, “Could our barangay be next? Will I be able to protect my family?”

It also makes me ask, does the national government really know the gravity of the situation in our city?

I don't know how many are aware of this but there are already incidents of senseless killings beforehand. The toll is actually tallied on a billboard in front of a university facing city hall. Why do these happen and why isn't anything being done about it?

Almost everyone is walking around the city with guns, for fear or to instill fear. Not to mention the numerous traffic-related accidents. Why isn't anything being done about these quickly? As time goes on, residents of the city are already scared before the war happened.

I was told that there was a time when Zamboanga City was peaceful. No one dared to invade the city because there are a lot of military installations around the city.

With the war that is tearing us down now, how could this happen given the said condition?

How can more that 200 MNLF militants infiltrate the city heavily armed to the teeth without any of our armed forces, both police and the military, knowing?

Obviously there is some lapse of intelligence here? Was it deliberate? And the shooting is still on-going. I wonder where the militants trapped in the city are getting their bullets?

These questions and events need to be raised to the public, through the internet and hopefully through other channels. More people need to know our real situation.

I would like to come up with action to raise awareness about what is happening in our city, which could be happening with the rest of the cities that we may not know of. I'm not trying to incite a revolution, only awareness, in the hopes that someone or some group that are really influential to the national government can do something about the condition of Zamboanga. Bottomline is, I genuinely would like to, call out to those who can help restore the peace that we, our families, used to enjoy.

To whoever is reading this, spread the word.  Your help will come a very long way in restoring peace in our humble city… and hopefully, in the whole country.

Muchas gracias… Maraming, maraming salamat!

Joseph Araneta – concerned father, Zamboangueño, Filipino.  

Make your own website at CityMax.com. I did!

Make your own website at CityMax.com. I did!: Want to make your own website? I made a website using CityMax.com. It's easy for anyone and great for small business. Try it free!

Day 10 of Maximum Rakenrol

1FiSH Events Calendar

3 Headed Dog is doing it all for rock ‘n roll - Lifestyle - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News

3 Headed Dog is doing it all for rock ‘n roll - Lifestyle - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News

Make your own website at CityMax.com. I did!

Make your own website at CityMax.com. I did!: "Want to make your own website? I made a website using CityMax.com. It's easy for anyone and great for small business. Try it free!"

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Ladies and gentlemen, gather around as I present to you the alternative power source that I’ve been bragging about and you guys have been waiting for. It’s just your everyday ordinary car battery. This little baby powers my laptop, dsl modem, wireless router and 2 electric fans, but there’s more power to spare.

As the country is hit by the El Nino phenomenon, the city has been plagued by the worst power and water crisis than we have ever experienced. We encounter power outages that lasts for up to 6 hours and the water supply is now being rationed. And they said the situation will still worsen until May or June where we hope the rains will come in, which I pray won’t be too extreme as how we have experienced from the recent typhoons that hit us. The condition of the planet is indeed changing rapidly for the worse and unless we act on ways that will at least help decrease pollution, we are doomed to find ourselves at the end of the road very soon!

Amazingly, we sometimes experience continuous power and water supply here in Zamboanga whenever we’re visited by prominent and influential people. Coincidence? I hope so! Otherwise I feel ashamed for how the city treats foreign people as royalty rather than it’s own constituents. But that is another story, and it is not my purpose to incite a propaganda and complain about trivial things. My main purpose for this article is to present to you guys a solution for the energy problem, an option if you will consider it.

Let me now stop with the drama and show you how this works. All you need is a good car battery a power inverter and a battery charger. How does it work? First off, we need the main ingredient which is a car battery. For my setup I bought a new car battery for only P3,300. You can buy used car batteries or if you have car batteries that you don’t use anymore, it will definitely help you to save. What I bought is a 2SMF, 9 plated battery. The principle here is a battery that stores more power will provide more power longer. You can get 11 plated or 13 plated batteries. Of course it will cost more to buy a battery that stores more power and it will take you longer to charge a battery as the plate increases.

Next you need a power inverter. Inverters converts 12V direct current from the battery to 220V alternating current. There are inverters that has a transformer that converts to 220V and 110V. What I got is a small one that only produces 220V so it won’t suck too much power from the battery, hence prolonging the life of the battery. I got it for only P1300. To help your appliances from possible power surges from the inverter, connect it to an AVR and surge protector. My inverter produces 600 watts of power, but you can buy one that can product up to 1000 watts. To find out which inverter you need, you will have to do a bit of math. You need to determine which appliances you’ll be connecting to the inverter. Then you need know how much power each appliance needs and add it all up. With my setup, I was able to get 6 hours of electricity. You need to take note here that as you increase the power that your inverter produces, it will decrease the life of your battery.

And finally, what you need is a battery charger, which is also know as a power converter. The converter converts 220V current to 12V current, which is what the battery stores. I plug it to the battery every time I have electricity and would charge my battery for 3 hours to fully charge it. I bought my charger for only P140. There are converters which can charge faster and others that charge slower. Take note that the capability and functionality of a device is directly proportional to the cost, so as the charging ability increases so does it’s price. I have posted the picture of my charger below.

All in all I only spent P6000 for my setup. Sweet deal isn’t it? Better than a power generator in my opinion, which produces too much noise when it runs and requires gasoline, thereby producing toxic air and would add to your expenses. I hope you guys find this information useful as well as entertaining.  Please do not hesitate to add to this article to share to others, and please leave comments when you can! To God be all the glory!

A VERY DEFINITE VOTE by Guy Seguiban

Election time is a high-water mark
of everyone.
The candidates vying for the most
prestigious posts are ubiquitous.
Tumultuously wooing and courting
the electorates.

Not much of a big deal to a poet.
to muddle himself in this muckraking
pastime gives him a helluva hell
of time – perhaps losing everything \
and gaining nothing.

But all things considered –
I ain’t a candidate but a poet,
my star has not burned out
at the core – so I ain’t yet dead
in the water.

I have a voice undeniably participative;
Thanks to this poetic license –
no Ali Baba can steal or seal my lips.
I walk my talk.

Look, my essence of living is not to be
in league of the high and mighty;
just happy to be in the mainstream,
only sad not to go gaga over
a certain candidate.

I won’t fall in love anymore with that
paragon of beauty, I swear –
for my soul was badly bruised,
for what happened once in a front row.

Seated together attending a debate,
she never flash a smile to me.
More amused than aghast,
I concluded perhaps she needed
to visit her dentist!


What could I say of that king?
One of the three who visited the child
in the manger.
A niche in Congress will still require
a tedious building of a huge bird’s nest.

“But he has all the virtues I dislike
and none of the vices I admire.”
Churchill was right in describing him.
Forsaking my case when I needed
most his legal services left me in a quandary.
It’s my turn now to dump him
like a hot potato.

I am not keen about him
Sorry, I won’t vote for a kin.
In his baptism of fire –
he carries the famous name of a wife
like a second skin.
That’s nothing to crow about.
The aura of a wife is not transferable.

I will maintain my vapid silence
as to his academic excellence.
To have a fire in the belly
is better than a crown
tilting in one’s head.

His tirades inside a post-graduate
classroom bludgeoned me like
a red tomato to death.

But nothing in my poetic license
suggests a death wish.
My own vote won’t diminish or tarnish
the track record of those destined
to win.