Last week in our Gospel, a Canaanite woman surprised Jesus Christ with her incredible faith when she engaged the Lord in a conversation for the healing of her daughter possessed by a demon. Today I invite you to let God surprise you with His immense love and mercy for all of us in the same manner that Jesus surprised Peter in today’s Gospel.

From the foreign territory of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus returned to Israel today with His disciples via the region of Caesarea Philippi where He asked them “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that Iam?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt.16:13-19)

As I prayed over today’s Gospel this past week, I strongly felt the element of surprise from God as I realized that this scene is not merely about the primacy of Peter as first Pope and head of the Church that we usually preach about. It is also about our “primacy” in the heart of God despite our many sins and failures.

We are Simon Peter, a “rock” foundation entrusted with so much blessings and responsibilities, including the keys to the “kingdom of heaven” when we are able to truthfully answer Jesus’ question because to know the Lord is to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Anyone with a very sinful past like St. Paul in our second reading would feel so surprised too to be loved and trusted by God: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom.11:33,36)

Since his conversion to Christianity, St. Paul had been surprised daily by the many great things God had done to him, convincing him of a love that is deeply personal and not just generic. When we allow God to surprise us with His kindness and goodness, things change for the best for us no matter how bad our situation is.

Let’s see, and hope you would be surprised, some of the surprising revelations by Jesus when He praised Peter for his remarkable answer that day in Caesarea Philippi:

First, God is in us because He speaks through us. He reveals Himself right in our hearts because He dwells there as Jesus said “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” Here we are also reminded of Gabriel’s greeting to Mother Mary at the Annunciation of the birth of Christ: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” (Lk.1:28) Jesus indeed is the Emmanuel, the “God-is-with-us”. Don’t look down on yourself; always see yourself the way God sees you, a beloved child of His, His indwelling! Every one of us is blessed in spite of our sins and shortcomings.

Second, God believes in us, making us a “rock” solid foundation upon which to build a community, be it a family, a parish, or a corporation. We are all “Simon Peter” in a sense because we can build and lead communities that would journey with Jesus with the Cross into eternal life. A lot often, we always feel so bad at how we do things that we could not trust our own abilities, our very selves; yet, God finds us to be trustworthy of nurturing a community, of relationships, or any undertaking that would eventually lead people out of misery and sin, pains and sufferings.

And to top it all, as a surprise to the surprising rock foundation He had made of us, God entrusts us with “authority” in the belief that we could really do our jobs and calling in life! These are the keys to the kingdom of heaven that Jesus gives us every day as we go on with our being rock foundation. Have you realized what a great honor for you to be trusted by God as a driver, a doctor, a nurse, a businessman, a husband, a housewife/homemaker, maybe a priest or church worker who in one way or the other does the work of God, bringing joy and comfort to many people?

Every authority is always a mandate from God, a sharing in His task of helping the needy as shown in our first reading: Eliakim was chosen to replace Shebna as King of Israel on whose shoulder would rest “the key of the house of David.”(Is.22:22) Shebna had fallen from disgrace due to his evil ways and the unknown Eliakim was catapulted to the throne by God’s grace. He too must have been surprised at why was he chosen by God!

But that’s the way it is in this life: God is full of surprises, surprises that delight us, that give us a “kick” to do more after the initial fright because it is in our weaknesses that God empowers us. It is in our poverty where God’s riches become truly enriching.

Toward the end of their discussions that day in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus “strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” It was quite a disturbing surprise why Matthew had to report it when all the secrecy about Jesus being the Christ had been revealed when he wrote his gospel account. This discretion applies even today because to be able to truthfully answer Jesus’ question of “who do you say that I am?” requires more of our feelings and experiences rather than of our thinking and explanations. That is the biggest surprise of God: we have to experience Jesus first in a very personal way to be surprised by His love and friendship. This is the purpose of the World Youth Day started by Blessed Pope John Paul more than 30 years ago.

Today our world is marked with so much sophistication and certainties in science and technology that people try to apply them even into their lives. Nobody wants to be surprised anymore and spirituality often comes under severe tests and even mistrust; if not, anything of the soul is brought down to more realistic and understandable level like the “arts”. Their dictum is “only matter matters”.

The sense of wonder, the sense of awe, the sense of surprise is said to be the spark of genius always because it is also the very beginning of the experience of God. No wonder, the most simple like children and the most creative like artists (in the truest sense) are the ones who surprise us most because they always allow themselves to be surprised by the world around them. And it is no wonder too that they are the most to touch our inner selves with their antics and remarks, paintings or poems because their sense of surprise and wonder keep them in touch with God, with their true selves, and with life itself.

When Jesus asked His disciples that day on what do people said about Him, they readily answered Him. But when He asked them the more personal “who do you say that I am?”, it was Peter who initially allowed himself to be surprised by God with his remarkable answer. Later, the disciples and those who followed after them found and experienced the right answer to the Lord’s query and must have been so surprised now that they are with Him in the kingdom of heaven.

Lord Jesus Christ, give us the grace of being empty and be surprised always by presence. Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Parish of St. John the Evangelist
Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022
Philippines

Filipinos are the world’s leading “texters” that our SMS messages could rightfully be considered as mirrors of who we are: fun-loving, humorous, romantics and on the negative side, very confused. Examine this text sent to me a few weeks ago by my cousin Portia:

“Ang Pinoy hindi tumatama ang sagot kahit maayos ang tanong…
Q: Kumain ka na ba? A: Busog pa ako.
Q: Saan kayo galling? A: Lumabas lang kami.
Q: Paano mo ginawa yan? A: Madali lang.
Q: Bakit wala ka kahapon? A: Absent ako.
Q: Anong oras na? A: Maaga pa.
Q: Saan ka na ba? A: Malapit na ako. Wait lang.
And my favorite… Q: Saan tayo kakain? A: Kayo?”

A few years ago, Francis Kong gave a talk to Catholic school teachers in our Diocese where he noted that the leading text message of Filipinos at 38 million daily is “K” or “Ok” while the next most popular text we send at 36 million a day is “Wer na U” or “San ka na?”. This means, according to Francis Kong, that 38-M Filipinos are feeling “OK” everyday while 36-M of them do not know where they are!

When I was vacationing in North America eight years ago, my relatives kept on reminding me of talking straight, of expressing in clear terms my ideas and desires especially when dealing with the Americans and Canadians. They would always tell me that our Filipino style of being shy, of beating around the bush do not simply work there. A lot often, we Filipinos prefer to take the circuitous route rather than hit the matter head on, straight; and, it seems that this is how we also express our faith with our so many rituals and prayers that sometimes we forget about God Himself.

Today, Jesus Christ is inviting us to be like the Canaanite woman who talked straight to Him by engaging Him into a conversation. Jesus and His disciples were in a foreign territory, Tyre and Sidon in modern day Lebanon when a Canaanite woman pleaded Him to heal her daughter possessed by a demon. Matthew reported that Jesus “did not say a word in answer to her” that the disciples begged Him to grant her wish so that she would stop pestering them.

He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, please help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour. (Mt.15:24-28)

For the past three Sundays, Matthew have shown us the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ who journeys with us everyday whether in the wilderness where there is little food, in the high seas amidst the storms, and now in a foreign land where we are totally a stranger just like Him! The other Sunday, I have shared with you the need to shed off our scarcity mentality to bask into the abundant blessings of God; last week, Jesus asked us to “cast out our fears and take courage” as He walks us through the many storms of life. Today, Jesus is inviting us all to claim Him as ours, that we assert our being His beloved brothers and sisters!

St. Paul said it so beautifully in his Letter to the Romans: “For the gifts and the call of God are permanent and irrevocable.” (11:29) Let us always be assured of that: God wants only the best for us and He would not take it away from us. So often, the problem is with us why fulfillment and even success becomes elusive: because we don’t have Him, our faith wavered as we opted to trust more on our selves and others than Him. We need to assert our faith in Jesus Christ especially when things are getting tougher for us, when we are in foreign territories, literally and figuratively speaking. Just like the Canaanite woman, whose race is another enemy of the Jews at that time, she was getting so lost with her daughter’s sickness but perfectly on track with Jesus, in believing in Him as the only One who could help her by recognizing Him as “Lord, Son of David!” And when she heard Jesus explaining to His disciples His mission, she came and did Him homage, addressing Him anew as “Lord.”

This is where the engaging conversation, and faith, happened like a hand-to-hand combat or grappling in judo: He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Remember the Wedding at Cana where a similar conversation happened between Jesus and Mary His mother who told Him that there was no more wine? And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (Jn.2:4)

Jesus was not being rude to the Canaanite woman nor to His Mother but was simply emphasizing His mission from the Father which is to bring salvation first to Israel and then to everyone by dying on the Cross. The Canaanite woman’s response was like that of Mary who told the servers to do whatever Jesus tells them: an assertion of faith in Jesus that He alone could make things happen.

That is what I call “engaging” that connotes “intimacy” as we say in Pilipino, “matalik na ugnayan”.

Lately, I have felt in my prayers that when we come to Jesus asking Him for healing or anything, He does not really test us whether we would persevere in our prayers or not but is simply asking us to enter into Him in an intimate relationship, to be engaged with Him always because He has been so involved with us even before we experienced scarcity, fear, and alienation. From the very start as the Isaiah prophesied in the first reading, God had always regarded us all as His own children, that “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Is.56:7)

For the past three weeks, Jesus had shown us why we must have faith in Him because He’s the only one who would save us whether in the wilderness or the high seas or foreign territory…today, let us claim Him in what we proclaim! Amen!

A blessed week ahead of everyone!

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
St. John the Evangelist Parish
Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022
Philippines

“Fear is the path to the dark side.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”

That was Master Jedi, Yoda, speaking to the child Anakin in the first prequel of the “Star Wars” trilogy “Phantom Menace”. And how true is Master Yoda that we suffer so much despite the aplenty of things around us simply because of our many fears!

Perhaps, the scarcity mentality we discussed last week is largely due to our many fears that sometimes cripple us and lead us to a life of darkness and suffering. Almost every day, we fear of so many things that prevent us from experiencing love and joy, mercy and forgiveness, friends and family, and most especially God. We fear almost everything like fear of being late and being reprimanded by our boss or teachers, fear of being robbed or losing our possessions and wealth, fear of losing a loved one, fear of being cheated or shortchanged or being duped, fear of dying, fear of the end of the world…you name it, and we have so many fears aside from the thousands of other phobias we are afflicted with.

Fear can be beneficial because it can harness the great potentials we have within; it pushes us to our limits and enables us to achieve many things that make us better persons once we overcome our fears. It is normal to have fears; the person who faces and tackles his fears is the brave one, the courageous one. On the other hand, the person who has no fear is a stupid one.

Today, Jesus Christ is asking us to boldly step out of our fears because He Himself had conquered every fear in the world: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” (Mt.14:27)

The word courage is from the Latin “cor” meaning “heart”; to take courage as Jesus had told His disciples while walking on water means to take it from our hearts, from within because that is where Jesus dwells in each one of us. That invitation of Jesus for us to “take courage and be not afraid” is a call for us all to cast away our fears because Jesus is with us in facing them. Allow yourself to be embraced by Jesus; listen to His voice from within you and be reassured of His love and presence, of His might and goodness.

One great temptation in our spiritual life is that we always fix God in a particular place or locality that we often believe like the disciples that Jesus must be up there in the mountain or in heaven merely watching over us. When Jesus walked on the water, the disciples could not believe it was Him because they knew they have left Him on the shore. We are like them, thinking Jesus is just there in the Blessed Sacrament or worst, He is the statue we have touched! We have entirely forgotten that Jesus is the “Emmanuel” prophesied by Isaiah, or “God-is-with-us”!

Last Sunday after our evening Mass, a 24 year-old man asked me if we could have a short conversation which dragged on for almost two hours. It was not even a conversation because I merely listened to the young man’s story who turned out to be afflicted with a tumor in his brain. After praying over him and his family, as I retired to my room and read today’s Gospel, I asked whether God could also be coming in disguises like our own fears and afflictions? Maybe….. because, sometimes God comes to us in the most unexpected circumstances, even where and when we least expected Him. I have learned that in this life that, ultimately, it is always and only God who has the final say on everything. And He could be in our fears like what Prophet Elijah experienced in the first reading.

Elijah was fleeing from the soldiers of the evil Queen Jezebel out to kill him. God told him to hide in Mount Horeb and to wait at the mouth of a cave for His coming. So many great things have happened like earthquake and fire but God was nowhere until, “After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.” (1Kgs.19:12-13)

Let us not look for God in great and bombastic instances in our lives; He is often in the simplest ones just like our fears and darkness or storms that come into our lives. Yes, this is easier said than done but that’s the way it is: fears are like gifts which, sooner or later, we’ll have to open them and accept whatever may be inside for us. And the greatest surprise of it could be Jesus Christ Himself coming out from that gift!

That was the experience of St. Paul who was stricken with grief over his fellow Jews who refused to accept Jesus as the Christ. In a sense, St. Paul was also stricken with fears for his fellow Jews but he did not allow these to overcome him; instead, he faced them head on in the name of Jesus Christ that he ended up extolling the Jews as our spiritual brothers and sisters because it was to them that God first revealed Himself.

Today, Jesus may be revealing Himself to us in the darkness and storms of our lives, in the many fears that enslave and immobilize us. Let us step out in faith, no matter how small this may just like with St. Peter, so that we could experience the abundant life God has for us. Last week we have realized that from our littleness come the many leftovers when offered to God; today, Jesus asks us to step out from the darkness of fears to experience true freedom from suffering and freedom for life and fulfillment!

A courageous week ahead of everyone!

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
St. John the Evangelist Parish
Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

Last Tuesday, I went to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City to visit Nikki, youngest daughter of a very dear friend. She’s in her early 30’s and was due to fly to the East Coast last month when she was diagnosed with a kidney disease in need of a transplant.

Nikki does not question God about her situation; what she’s more bothered with is the infighting among some relatives over the fortunes left by her Lola: “would they still change, Tito Fr. Nick?”

Of course, I told her, they would still change but we don’t know when; and, that’s when Nikki asked me the very question we often ask: “why does God allow these kind of people to prosper and even lord over others trying to be good?” It is also the very same question that the people from the Old Testament to our present time pondered most often.

The author of the Book of Wisdom in the first reading beautifully explains to us why God the Almighty refuses to use His powers to zap the evil ones: “But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your sons good ground for hop that you would permit repentance for their sins.” (Wis.12:18-19)

I am a big fan of Chinese kung fu movies since childhood and had always wondered about that standard line among masters telling their students never to use their martial arts unless necessary. Though it had always been vague with me when is necessary a necessary, I have always thought that kung fu is for self-defense. Later in life as I met a lot of Chinese from mainland China at UST did I realize fully that kung fu is about discipline, of avoiding fights and not harming anyone. According to my Chinese friends, they have been taught by their elders that whenever a person resorts to brute force, that means he had ran out of sanity.

Are we not like that when we throw our weight around, literally and figuratively speaking, just to insist on our beliefs and whims? Have you experienced how some people, especially those who would bully or have power trips become so irrational? Simply put, the first to punch, the first to use force even intimidation is always the first to ran out with reasons. Just read the newspapers or watch the television news or observe the people around you at home or at work and you will surely see what I mean. The funniest thing about it is the fact that we often do it!

Now, that is the exact opposite with God as reflected upon by the author of the Book of Wisdom: God chooses to be merciful and lenient because He is, indeed, the “master of might” that is why He could control His powers. We mortals give into our emotional outbursts and ego trips because we are weak. We can’t reason out using our brains so, we choose to cover it up by flexing our muscles, even lashing out others with our tongues and big mouths. What happens next is destruction of our very selves, of our relationships including of our environment.

Again for the second straight week, Matthew presents to us another parable by Jesus, that of the weeds among the wheat. As we have explained last week, a parable is a way of teaching us of the most profound truths of God, of our selves, and of life using the most simple and ordinary things in life. Matthew beautifully noted that “He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.’” (Mt.13:34-35)

And what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world in this parable of the weeds among the wheat? More than the mercy and leniency God has for us all sinners is His great belief in each one of us! Yes, that is one of the many ironies of this life I have found recently— of how we human beings would not trust others even ourselves, our own abilities, our own giftedness! What a sad a situation when the truth is, god in all His might and powers believes in us so much that He put us here on earth!

This Sunday, Jesus Christ is telling us how much He believes in us so much that even if we do evils, He trusts lovingly that we would change our ways and be better persons.

This Sunday too, Jesus Christ is telling us who suffer so much from inconsiderate people who malign our names, saying and doing all the nasty things against us, that He still believes in us, that we would be patient and kind, and eventually with Him on our side that we would overcome all these trials and hardships in life.

We don’t have to use brute force and other means available to our powers because, aside from the so many pains we have to endure, there are still the many destructions happening that could still worsen if we “pull out the weeds” from the field.

Let us be consoled and be filled with hope with what Jesus said towards the end in explaining this parable: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Mt.13:43)

Observe how people deep into evil and sin, even if they look good physically, their aura is so negative that you could feel something rotting inside them. Malcolm Gladwell called it “Blink” but a wife or a mother knows it very well as an intuition when just deep inside them they could rightly conclude by the appearance of their husband or kids that there’s some hanky panky or trouble brewing in them. Gut feelings often tell us deep inside us how some people repel rather than attract us.

Today, our parable of the weeds among the wheat tells us that profound truth of Jesus believing in us, dwelling in us. Let that light of Jesus in you shine through! Let us pray through the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Lord Jesus Christ, pour upon me your Holy Spirit as I search my heart to help me in my weaknesses especially when I become impatient with others, when I think of revenge when others hurt me, and when I refuse to love because of others shortcomings. May your Holy Spirit move me to always do the Father’s holy will. Amen.”

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Parish of St. John the Baptist
Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan
Philippines

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 45,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 129 posts. There were 22 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was April 7th with 425 views. The most popular post that day was How to Make Cristina’s Malunggay (moringa) Powder.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, undefined, search.conduit.com, google.com.ph, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for malunggay juice, how to make malunggay tea, how to make malunggay juice, malunggay juice recipe, and malunggay.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

How to Make Cristina’s Malunggay (moringa) Powder July 2008
149 comments

Malunggay (Moringa)- How to make Juice June 2008
157 comments

Malunggay (moringa) – How to make tea June 2008
37 comments

malunggay (moringa) Tea/ Moringa powder May 2009
73 comments

Dried Malunggay (Moringa) Leaves August 2008
80 comments

Ingredients:

gabi/yam sliced (1/2 inch thickness)

1 small onion – sliced

fish heads (my favorite)

malunggay

Procedure:

Boil 2 glasses of water.
Add gabi (yam) and onion
when the gabi is soft, add the fish heads (of course you may use the other parts of the fish also)
let it boil for 3-5 mins or until the fish is cooked
Add salt to taste
add malunggay. turn off the stove
Voila.

you have your fish with malunggay. so simple. yet very delicious and nutritious.

I requested seeds of african moringa from http://www.echonet.org/ and received a pouch containing 10 seeds. Since I got them during the el nino, I waited for the rains to come. I planted them on June 11, 2010. On June 16 two seeds came alive.

plant no 1.

plant no. 2.

After 10 days, they look like this already.

plant no. 1

plant no. 2.

Today, twenty days after planting the first two survivors look like this:

plant no. 1.

plant no. 2

Bantayan Island is composed of three municipalities namely, Madridejos (north), Bantayan (center), and sta fe (south). Sta. fe is where you will find most of the nice beaches in Bantayan (not in bantayan town), Bantayan is the center of trade, and i guess, madridejos is basically a fishing community.

I started planning for this vacation since march by searching reviews and sites about bantayan isalnd on the net. One site that gave me a lot of information is wowbantayan.com. It features most of the inns and resorts in Bantayan. It helps to familiarize yourself first through the articles and posts on the net about bantayan island although it is good also to ask the locals where is the best place to stay. i also read some reviews of the resorts.

However, be that as it may, I did not make a final booking because we have to wait for my son who has to finish enrolling first before we can go. On the afternoon of May 25 he came home and said it’s done. So we packed our bags and decided to go the next morning. No final booking just an idea of the many places where we can stay in the island.

From Mandaue city, we travelled for two hours+ using our car. Starting out at 6:30 am we arrived at Hagnaya Port in San Remigio at around 9:00am. The boat arrived at 9:30 and we left around 9:40. After one hour and ten minutes we arrived at Sta. Fe port in Bantayan Island.

After one hour and ten minutes we arrived at Sta. Fe port in Bantayan Island.

We checked in at Sugar Beach Resort. A budget traveller’s haven. You may choose from the many rooms/cottage they offer. Good for two, family groups, etc. they also have an aircon room but it is only good for two and is far away from the beach.

If you want to buy your food, you may go to the market. Take a pedicab (fare is ten pesos per person) and buy everything you need from the market. make sure you buy your water. The water from the tap is not fit for drinking. If you prefer to eat in the restaurants, there is plenty available in sta. fe. If you’re on a budget, opt to buy in the carinderia in the resort. OR, buy your fresh seafood and ask the resort people to cook it for you for a fee (P40 per dish).

Explore the town by renting a tricycle or pedicab. if you can drive, rent a 4 wheel motorcycle (they call ATV), or a mini jeep to explore the whole island of Bantayan.

</atv

one speaker, ria jose, said that as a blogger, i represent a community. the blogger community and should display proper decorum. one should not write anything negative, but if i do it, i should at least be balanced in my writing. i also realized that i should take creative writing lessons to improve my writing.

Another speaker was brad geiser of geiser-maclang, a transformative marketing company. He discussed social marketing, a different way of looking at marketing products.

Juned, discussed the different codes of ethics. including the pcij code of ethics.

Tonyo Cruz talked about citizen journalism and the new media. his tip is” honesty is the best policy” when blogging. be accurate.

Wilson ng of Ng Khai Devt corp was one of the speakers also and discussed how to make one’s blog unique.

Jayvee Fernandez (abuggedlife.com) talked about how to market your blog.

hans A koch talked abput search engine optimization using wordpress.

I hope I did not miss a speaker. I am not a good note taker and old age is already taking its toll on my memory. If I missed anyone, please forgive me.

What I will remember best is the fun we had. the games and new young friends i met there. most especially the give aways (hehehehehe).

what did i get? A notepad and a magazine from Nokia; a pin and band from Mozilla firefox; a google shirt; volumes 1-4 of engy comic books from Wilson Ng; a cd (timeless visayan and russian classics) by the asian troubadours, courtesy of mr. wilson Ng of Ng Khai development corp.; and a bag from geiser mcclang. also, lunch courtesy of Jolibee.

to the organizers and sponsors and co-attendees thank you. see you next year. can’t wait for the cebu blog camp 2011.