VERTICALTHOUGHTS

LOUIEBRYAN LAPATO N H I S T R I P T O G O V E R N O R G E N E R O S O

TURNING ROGUE IN GOVGENWE ARE A NATION OF ROGUES, OF UNLIKELY HEROES AND STUBBORN VISIONARIES, OF KINGS AND PIMPS AND JACKALS. AND THERE ARE MANY SECRETS THAT NEED TO BE DIVULGED ABOUT THE WICKED HISTORY OF OUR LAND, IF ONLY TO KEEP A RE-

CORD OF THEM IN THE ANNALS OF OUR MODERN AGE.

Over the past two days, the setting has been so different. The sky was blue. The clouds were fat and were scattered on hills and mountains. There were no papers, news and speeches to write and a flickering computer screen. This is what is left: sky, hills, farms, open sea, lonely roads and a middle-aged man in a red short along the shore.

Our four-hour motorcycle ride led us to a place in what could only be described as a perfect gateway: Governor Generoso in the picturesque province of Davao Oriental. Oozing with its small-town appeal, GovGen (famously known as Sigaboy) boasts of the sight of a lighthouse standing tall and proud on top of an almond-shaped island, crystal clear waters, long stretch of white sand and a good spot to enjoy the splendid views of the sun.

Originally, our plan was to go to the Island of Camiguin but the thought of many people flocking to the island for the Panaad made us drop the idea. Turned out it was a perfect decision as GovGen offered

us tranquility and a breath-taking adventure I never imagined of doing — and achieving.

My travel buddy and officemate Leo Timogan of Tagum Exposure — himself a well-travelled blogger and award-winning photographer — said I broke the myth that I could not survive in any trekking or mountain-climbing activity. I really did. Like the lighthouse that stands tall, I am proud that I reached two summits in a single day, literally. But boy, that was really hard!

There’s a new world up there. The sight of fishing vessels docked in the middle of the sea reminded me of a scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean. The breath-taking climb (which I also did on a humid sharp noon in a hill referred to by locals as Kalbaryo) will surely be highlighted by the jaw-dropping scene up above that will, in an instant, make you feel that you are the king of the world.

Since it’s Holy Week, Barrio Tibanban was extremely boring. But I was told that to make your trip memorable, it’s really up to you to create exciting journeys out

from nothing. There’s really no place and trip as boring or lame. It’s really up to you to discover or make the multitude of adventures and fun waiting for you. As what I experienced, it’s nice to be crazy sometimes.

It’s now thirty past one when I’m hitting this keyboard, and the ultimate sign that the world I knew before Holy Week was back is in front of me: the computer.

A blue sky with fat clouds, seemingly-manicured hills, vast farms, an open sea and a lonely road was my recollection when we left GovGen. But the most poignant line uttered on my two-day stay here was from the middle-aged man whom we hired to transport us to the island from the mainland the moment we saw him at the shore:

“Balik-balik.”

More than the pristine waters and its warm people enjoying the bounty of the sea, reasons will surely be plenty of why there’s a need to go back.

Despite the conveniences of the 21st century, Governor Generoso projects a striking image of a blissful getaway

away from the noise of the metro.

Snapshots

P H O T O S B Y L E O T I M O G A N A N D L O U I E L A P A T

TURNING ROGUE IN GOVGEN

From Davao City, one may take either public utility buses (PUB’s) or L300 vans to reach Governor Generoso. Public utility buses coming from Davao City travel in and out of the municipality daily at one (1) hour interval from 3:00 o’clock in the morning up to 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon. It takes more or less four (4) hours of travel to reach the municipality for PUBs with terminal at

Ecoland, Davao City while two and a half (2 ½ ) hours for L300 vans with terminal at Gaisano Mall and Victoria Plaza, Bajada.

EXPERIENCE STUNNING SUNSETS IN GOVERNOR GENEROSO, DAVAO ORIENTAL

As I am hitting the keyboard and while my eyes are staring this flickering flat-screen, I am at the still point of the turning world. 360 minutes from now, my world will have a seismic shift in paradigm as it turns 360 degrees. 360 minutes from now, I’ll be twenty years old. That’s roughly six hours to go and here I am blogging every thought my mind ponders in front of a sick computer. 19 years ago, I cried my first hurrah and 19 years later, I became the man who had his share of triumphs and pitfalls. The past 19 years had been a roller coaster ride. And as I turn another leaf in my life’s history, I dared to remember the things that scared me at first but later molded me; the people who are dear to me who’d been the fountainhead of inspiration for me; the challengers who never failed to remind me that I am no Superman and to the best of friends -- old and new alike -- for their immeasurable friendship. Tomorrow will be just an ordinary day: no celebrations, no cakes,no balloons to pop, no candles to blow. Instead, I’ll light up a candle and say a prayer to Him and

thank Him for granting me such an exciting life. The road ahead will be long. The climbs will be steep. There will be another wave of problems to solve, chances and opportunities to grab and a time to love. In the depths of coldness, I write these words thinking that I am the end of this paragraph. This is what I will promise to remember, every day, for the next 19 years: I am who I am because of Him and to all the people who shaped my personality. To them, I am grateful. This I pledge: Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, I renew a sense of personal purpose today: to make my existence here on earth more just and generous; to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life. My purpose continues. My story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.

I am the period at the end of this paragraph.

THROUGH THE

STORMl o u i e b r y a n m . l a p a t

HerculeanTask

HerculeanTask

Like the serious stare of an elusive eagle, these artists let you gaze at their thought-provoking pieces of art and makes you wonder

how far this city has transformed or fell short into an art-conscious society.

All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.

One could not easily ignore the larger-than-life street art that mushroomed this week in this city’s Rotary Park. Indigenous in nature, the mural paintings painted here resonate the city’s rich indigenous culture.

This is, of course, something worthy to blog since this goes to show that Tagum City has slowly bloomed into a melting pot of artists of different disciplines. But last Holy Week, I remembered how a noted artist here la-ments how lame the art scene in this bustling capital town of Davao del Norte—a thing they wanted to change. People’s appreciation in the arts is not evident, he said, except for the very few who bleeds art.

Sim Tolentino from Manila together with Tagum City Tourism Office’s resident artist extraordinaire Jie Embodo joined forces to mount this refreshing street art, at their own expense. For me, their skillful strokes and perfect mixing of colors make this art extraor-dinary, surpassing sophomoric quality.

May this act create waves of inspiration among budding Tagumeño artists, especially the youth.

This city is the second city after Davao in Region XI to have a school that offers a cur-riculum focused on arts. Tagum City National Comprehensive High School, my alma mater, is now its 5th year in implementing the

Special Program for the Arts that focuses on visual arts, including creative writing, media arts, rondalla and dance, among others.

Add to that is the annual Kalinawa Indig-enous Art Festival every November where art-ists in the different parts of the rgion converge to exhibit works of art dedicated to showcase the richness and vibrancy of our indigenous arts and culture.

But there’s a long way to go.

For more than four years, Tagum City’s Ro-tary Park along Pioneer Avenue has become this city’s sports and recreational center. This houses the country’s first beach volleydrome, a modern basketball arena and is home to four government agencies: sports, civil security, tourism and public information. This is also where lovers bunk at night or in broad day-light and a favored meeting place for friends or kennel of dogs.

In a few years perhaps—or even in my life-time—I wish that this park will also become a venue for artists of all genres to exchange ideas, celebrate the arts and put Tagum City on the art scene that will surely add weight to this city’s ambitious claim to become Mind-anao’s cultural center.

Thanks to Sim and Jie, the journey has begun.

Both Jie Embodo and Sim

Tolentino worked on this eye-

catching street art in Tagum City’s

Rotary Park. They personally spent

for the paints used during the

painting with saome contribution

from Tagumeño Blogger Leo

Timogan

STREET SMART

VERTICAL THOUGHTS Essays

OF NOTEBOOKSAND LONG WEEKENDS

THERE’S REALLY NOTHING special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook. It’s Saturday and today marks both the end and the beginning. The long weekend had kicked off, a turning point for me to realize that let the bygones be bygones and dash myself on for a new journey. It’s almost midnight and I don’t know why I’m still in front of this flickering computer screen, writing my thoughts on things or two. While I do this, I’m listening to Michael Buble’s “Home.” There’s really nothing special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook. It’s been a long while since I’ve bought one and spent a long lazy day doodling crazy things or scribbling notes that are gobbledygook. I usually do it on such boring weekends. And it’s what I intend to do in the next two days and on next Monday which was declared a holiday. There’s really nothing so special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook. The fact that my bestfriend cajoled me to also buy for her a new doodle notebook is more than a reason to be alarmed. It’s a 360-degree spin and I just wanna faint. I gave in. There’s really nothing so special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook and got to watch two movies one after the other.It’s been a while since I was able to have a break and the feeling was just so relaxing. 3D Glasses on, a good laugh and a spark of inspiration . Such a lovely weekend. There’s really nothing so special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook. In 72 hours, I wish to draw on its pages and scribble notes I am afraid to tell in front of the face of someone special. I already had 4 lines written on it while sipping frappe; and my bestfriend doodled something I believe is abstract - much to my dismay when she said what she doodled was my face. There’s really nothing so special today except for the fact that I bought a new doodle notebook. This is life. This is home.

The fact that my bestfriend cajoled me to also buy for her a new doodle notebook is more than a reason to be alarmed. It’s a 360-degree spin and I just wanna faint.

“

“

L O U I E B R Y A N M . L A P A T

MUSINGS IN THE PACIFIC SEA

Under a deep blue sky and with the sound of the sea breeze, I found myself in one corner of a beach resort in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental. It was a fine afternoon: the sea was gentle and calm, the white sand shimmers as the seawater went ashore and the only thing visible from where I stand are the children enjoying the heat of the sun on their skin and a lonely fisherman navigating through his banca amidst a sea of blue. It’s twenty five minutes past two in the afternoon and I am perfectly lonely.

Davao Oriental speaks of legends and folklore and is brimming with nature’s wonder. While many around me enjoyed the beach, here I am standing still on the shore, missing someone from a not-so-distant past. It’s been a while since I last saw the sun kiss the western sky with someone I love, enjoying each time nature paints the sky with yellow and red. This afternoon, I’ll be viewing it alone and with high anticipation someone’s gonna stand beside me someday, hold my hand and cherish the moment that marks the passing of another day. From a distance, I saw couples sweet as lovebirds, flashing those sweet smiles to each other and exhibiting those gentle caresses.

There’s no perfect time and there’s no perfect place to dream than on the spot where I am standing today. It’s fourteen days before Christmas and I know --- more than anybody else --- the true meaning of a Cold Christmas. Soon as the night bites after a very hot day, I’ll be shivering in the corner brought by the sweet zephyr.

The sea is still gentle and calm. The white sand still shimmers each time the seawater go ashore. The kids just quit from swimming and the lonely fisherman is now excited to go home with his catch which will be shared by his family for dinner.

I’m still here. Melancholy strikes. I knew what loneliness meant.

Writing on the Shore,

Monobloc Chair

PROFILESVERTICAL

THAT ROCK

I’m bitten by a bug that’s constantly itching and can’t help but scratch. Every scratch gives insatiable satisfaction that consuming me for weeks. If it is turning me into a zombie, I won’t mind (George Romero could be prouder). There’s no prescribed cure but to run havoc and infect other mortal denizens.

Its insanity… an addiction. I won’t really mind. My officemates, if I failed to go to work readily suspect me somewhere testing my addiction. I know this because when I returned to work rumors has it that I’m at Bankerohan public market or San Pedro Cathedral taking snapshots of almost anything under the sun. My colleague Cris, on his usual in-your-face frankness, cannot contain and questioned me if I don’t even get a speck of shame. I just answered a beaming smile thinking “they don’t just understand, if only they had the itch”.

Big SqueezeClaiming photography as his hobby, hard-core blogger and professional photographerLEO TIMOGAN writes about the sheer brilliance of travel and documenting it through stunning photographs.

Big Squeeze

VERTICAL

THAT ROCK

The malady is yes, photography. I really don’t know how this started. When I was little I just have fascination to old monochrome photos my parents kept. For the longest time, photos did’t appeal to me as an art but as tangible retrospective reminders of the distant past. When presented with old photo of me, I’d tried to recollect if I still remember that very day it was taken. It’s not really clear to me how old I am on the flash backs I have in my head. That is why I sometimes caught my

self asking people how young they were when they gain consciousness of the cosmos.

In high school I remember joining a photo contest capturing an event of the day. Those that have more editorial value bags the prize. I didn’t win; I’m in it for the experience anyway. But honestly, what I remember was that I so badly wanted to win that time (well sorry for me).

Does not the very word ‘creative’ mean to build, to initiate, to give out, to act - rather than to be acted upon, to be subjective? Living photography is positive in its approach, it sings a song of life - not death.

With the nature of my previous work, I travel a lot. There were times before that I pulled over just for a moment, watch and marvel on the greatness and at the same time peculiarity of nature and its inhabitants. Its harmony and at the same time its struggles from each other.

Now that I’m commuting daily traveling from Tagum to

Panabo and vice versa, on its unadulterated form scenery seemed screaming for a photo shoot. They seemed ordinary to new and frequent commuters but it didn’t fail to amaze me. So I decided to procure a very powerful DSLR camera which cost me a limb and a year of starvation.

I used to be a point-and-shoot user, but my recent travel to Iligan, made me wished and craved for a really fast

and longer / wider ranged camera and lenses. DSLR addressed it all as it is superb in detailed photography, because Photoshop could only do little on an already average–quality photo of a point-and-shoot. I’ m still on my infancy in photography. I dream of having a wide angle lens and filters for stunning landscape shots. I am also scouring the net for post processing tutorials (I am still using the dated CS and so looking forward to CS3).

Now I found out that taking good picture goes beyond the latest gadgets that you can get in the market, you should have the heart and soul, first and foremost, in capturing moments in time freeze in a snapshot.

JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACELeo Timogan’s photographs spark inspiration and without a doubt, bleeds with technical excellence. He captures his surroundings in frozen instants of ineffable poetry through his delicate, discerning eye. Get to know him through his blogs listed below:

www.dbigsqueeze.blogspot.comwww.tagumexposure.blogspot.comwww.salangdiwa.blogspot.com

Dark Éclairs

“The sun glared, exposing its reach, proclaiming its might. It is summer.”

But the air that hangs around is polluted by the excesses of a gaseous love potion. The culprit was an enchantress who must have made the concoction strong, for it contaminates the air suffocating the brain and depleting it with its needed oxygen. Yet, such death becomes the life of the other, the heart that feeds on it, as its beating possessed and claimed by its power. It has become its poison as it becomes its elixir. As feelings are entangled, the microcosmic existence drains into an abyss of void, into an emptiness that permeates the being. And still when numbness becomes the only escape, the only light that casts away the shadow of grief, the heart chooses to dwell in that darkness, where the hero is cradled in its infinity, consumed by the desire to worship the bittersweet reality of being nonexistent. Must it be that when the hero closes his eyes to meet his angel of the night, he yearns for her to be vanished, to be gone forever? Why then when light touches and pierces his skin to mark it with a new gloom, he wishes for his angel to come to him and blind him of her dark presence? It seemed that the wine from the sweetest vineyard becomes tasteless, bland of its spirits. The spirit becomes him. It was the defeated hero that gives soul to the drink. And the covers that had once given comfort in the freezing become the source of coldness, harsh coldness, tormenting the lost soul. It becomes alive only when a flesh unknown to him breathes fire to a life abandoned with him needing the heat to know the knowledge of knowing what it is to live. And the flesh shares it with him lifelessly, for after the slow dance of nakedness settles the truth of a lie, exposing a deeper cut, so deep that no amount of lustful surgery can heal the wound of the wounded animal. Redemption has to wait for another stop, for the next rain, the next dreaming, and the next throbbing of a sinful ache.

S U R A L L A H A B E T O

TENQUESTIONS

NAJU: a master of patience and optimism. he sees everything in a positive side. you might think that he does not fight battles because of his pure heart and kind intentions… You’re effing wrong! he loves beating demons and killing them leaving them sliced to shreds on the ground. he’s a master of swords and knifes and other sharp objects he also have a top level and the highest score in a kung-fu game in his Wii 4000. (seriously) He wears formal attires with the same design. just like mr. bean.

egular news feeds appearing in the social

networking giant facebook share a plethora of

commonalities: none-sense rants, exclaiming

status updates, wide-ranging events, informative

news and video links, among other things. For the

über hyper users of social networks, this could be

considered a bombshell, and a potential source of

skyrocketing high blood for those who don’t like it.

It’s a given. Period. The way we take it and interpret

it depends really on us. More than anything else, the

volume of information it relayas to us definitely spells

the difference.

One distinct man who’s a living proof to this is

amateur digital artist Jio Managbanag. Born and

raised in Tagum City, this 21-year old artist explodes

thought-provoking works of art over the internet.

Still strong-willed and feisty at the normally mellow,

he stressed that his works of art tend to break the

monotony of online content shared over social

networking sites, creating a ripple of meaningful

exchange of ideas and bright ideas.

R

Every one of us gets even better and better if we constantly do what we love to do. I think that explains it. In my busy years, it is more like a habit to me. I can call it my anti-stress and sometimes

my sleeping pill.

THE BALLAD OFJUAN TAMAD

Thus fueled a regular blow-by-blow uploading of his

works over facebook and his official tumblog. By

doing so, he is producing a ménage a trois -- sheer

brilliance, colorful pastel colors and wonderful strokes

-- happily married with each other.

Yet to the very few, his works of art go unnoticed or

worst, ignored. Despite of this, this man continues

to do his stuff, mindful of the unique privilege of

making art when nobody else can. It’s as if he is com

The dramatic rise of digital arts if truly unprecedented

and here comes a man in his prime youth who

braved the odds and continues to make a name in a

competitive arena that made the world in awe. His’

are the strokes that proved that with unwavering

hardwork and determination, nothing is impossible.

Quite ironically, Jio hides by the name Juan Tamad.

As opposed to the virtue the latter represents, he

continues to dance to the ballad of his times. He

continues to draw. Never wavering. Never faltering.

Never ending. L O U I E B R Y A N L A P A T

NOBODY GAVE A DAMN ABOUT THE ICONIC JUAN TAMAD. why did you choose it as your pseudonym?

The name itself describes one thing I like the most about my self. I dont mind what others think of my laziness. On the other hand, this laziness benefits me in my own ways of applying it to specific situations.

How would digital art shape the art scene in the 21st Century?

I’m not really sure but I think the art scene in the 21st century would be broader and would continue to be dynamic. I also think that more artist and art lovers would show off as time goes by because I observed that many people are getting interested to art these days not only in digital art but also in other field of art. Nah! That’s just my opinion but a part of me is still a little bit sure about that.

What’s the inspiration behind all your works?

I can tell that most of my works are products of my hyper active imagination sprinkled with a little bit of creativity. I don’t know what causes me to think of something artistic but most of the time I imagine random figures that sometimes amaze me and make me think that I should draw/sketch it or just share it with my doodle book because I thought it was awesome and the only way that I could preserve that awesomeness is to convert it into art. The artists around the world inspire me. I have known few artists that really amazed me with their works. We all know that there are millions of artists around the planet and seeing those artworks from the ones I’ve know makes me want to know more artists as I continue to lurk in the art world. So I keep on making art to communicate with other artist. I mean, other people, artists or not might find my works admirable and that might be a good way to know them and their arts too.

Do you think your works inspire others?

Yes, I guess. Some of my friends started exploring digital arts after seeing my works. I think they get more interested every time I make a new artwork. I don’t know but that’s how I feel every time my favorite artists in deviantart.com make good artworks. LOL. I hope they would join us on making the art scene even more interesting and admirable soon enough after they develop their skills in making good art.

How do you handle criticisms and praise?

It depends on the criticism and praise. Sometimes, exaggerated praises about my works annoys me. I appreciate people who criticize my works because I sometime find their criticism helpful in improving my outputs. I am always open about criticism to my works they seemed to be a key to improvement for me and the same as the other artists I believe.

DIGITAL ARTis a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process. Since the 1970s, various names have been used to describe the process including computer art and multimedia art, and digital art is itself placed under the larger umbrella term new media art.

Sometimes, exaggerated praises about my works annoy me. I

appreciate people who criticize my works because I sometime find their criticism helpful in

improving my outputs.

on aON HANDLING CRITICISMS