Stiff Neck..

Oh man this stiff neck hurts.

A New Years Prayer

Lord, with a grateful heart, we come to You today to thank You for all the
things that You have brought into our lives the past 365 days of the past
year.

We bow down and kneel before You, O Lord, and praise You as the Way,
the Truth, and the Life, a forgiving and merciful Father that You are.

Grant us the grace of a deeply repentant heart.
Forgive us for all the times that we have been so selfish and proud,
for the things that we have said and one which may have hurt others,
for doing the things which were not in accordance with Your teachings.
Pardon us, Lord, for all our sins and shortcomings.

Lord, thank you for the good life - good health, good food, good friends,
good tidings, good cheers.
Thank you for all the times that You have been there for us through our family and friends who stood by us in good times or in bad.

Lord, we ask for Your graces and blessings as we start another year,
and as we continue and go on with life's many journeys.
We offer to You our children: Guide them in their daily activities, never allow them to be separated from You.
We offer to You our family: Grant us good health and guide us in our directions and decisions in life.
Let there always be love, peace, and harmony in our home.

Help us to treat everyone fairly and justly regardless of who they are.
Remind us always to have good thoughts, to say good words,
and to do good deeds.
But most of all, to be humble all the days of our lives as we are all but
passing visitors on this earth.
In all these, Lord, always remind us of Your love, and from that love,
help us to build and live life with You in our hearts and minds.
For always. At all times.

Lord, help us to start the new year right, with You as the center of our
lives today, tomorrow, and the coming days of the year 2008.
All these we ask in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord and God's Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mt. Manunggal "A Historical Event"

Mt. Manunngal, considered one of the tallest mountains in Cebu. Silent, calm and peaceful place; not until around midnight of March 17, 1957, the whole country couldn't believe of what happened to the late President Ramon Magsaysay as they expected, he will arrive in Manila, early dawn.

The 1957 crash of a Douglas C-47 plane named "Mt. Pinatubo" on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, Cebu, Philippines, killed the 7th President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, and 24 other passengers. The crash is estimated to have occurred at 1:40:00 AM, March 17, 1957, Philippine Standard Time (17:40:00 PM, March 16, 1957, GMT). Several high-ranking Philippine government and military officials, as well as journalists, were also among the dead. A reporter for the Philippine Herald, Nestor Mata, was the sole survivor of the accident.

At the time of his death, President Magsaysay, a Nacionalista, was widely popular and was expected to easily win re-election in the November presidential elections.

Aircraft and crew

The sole aircraft involved in the crash was a newly reconditioned twin engine Douglas C-47 which was operated by the Philippine Air Force and served as the official presidential plane of Magsaysay. The plane had been newly purchased with less than 100 hours of logged flight. It had a crew of five, all officers of the Philippine Air Force led by the pilot, Major Florencio Pobre.

The plane was named "Mt. Pinatubo", after a long inactive volcano then best known as the tallest mountain in Magsaysay's home province of Zambales. In 1991, Mount Pinatubo, which had been dormant since the 1300s, erupted in what was the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century, leaving around 300 people dead.

On March 16, 1957, President Magsaysay arrived at Cebu City for a series of speaking engagements in the city later that day. He spoke at a convention of USAFFE veterans, at the University of the Visayas, the Southwestern College and at the University of San Carlos. In the evening, he attended a party at the home of Cebu City mayor Sergio Osmeña, Jr. He left for Lahug Airport and boarded his plane shortly before midnight, sent off at the airport by a group led by the mayor's father, former President Sergio Osmeña.

The aircraft took off from Lahug Airport for Nichols Field, around 640 kilometers away near Manila, at 1:00:00 AM, Sunday, March 17. The weather was fine and the ceiling unlimited with low broken clouds and a bright moon. Eyewitnesses on the ground observed that the airplane had not gained enough altitude as it approached the mountain ranges in Balamban. At 01:17:00 AM, the plane radioed the official presidential home, Malacañang Palace, to have the President fetched at Nichols Field at around 03:15 AM. This communication was the last ever conveyed by the plane.

Concerns arose after Magsaysay's plane failed to arrive at Nichols Field on schedule. By breakfast time, First Lady Luz Magsaysay and the Magsaysay family were informed that the plane had gone missing. An all-out air and sea search was instituted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with the assistance of the United States Air Force and Navy. The search had initially focused on the sea, as much of the flight route was over the ocean. The news had also spread throughout Manila and the rest of the Philippines, people weeping openly upon hearing of the missing flight.

In the mid-afternoon of March 17, a local town official in Cebu announced that the plane had crashed on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, in Balamban, Cebu, approximately 22 miles northwest of Cebu City. Several local residents had heard the crash and discovered the flaming wreckage of the plane on the morning of the 17th. They discovered one survivor, Nestor Mata, a reporter with the Philippine Herald newspaper, whom they transported down the mountain. Mata, who suffered second- and third-degree burns, estimated that the plane had crashed around 1:40:00 AM. There were no other survivors. Military rescuers arrived at the crash site the following day, March 18. The body of President Magsaysay was identified by his brother through his wristwatch and later confirmed by dental records. It was determined that at the time of the crash, Magsaysay had been inside his special cabin, located just behind the cockpit.

Within hours after the official identification of President Magsaysay's body, Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia was sworn in as the 8th President of the Philippines. At the time of the crash, Garcia had been in Australia, attending a conference of the SEATO.

Passengers

In addition to President Magsaysay and Mata, the plane carried 24 others, including former Senator Tomas Cabili, a hero of the guerrilla resistance movement during World War II; Secretary of Education Gregorio Hernandez; Representative Pedro Lopez of the 2nd District of Cebu; and General Benito Ebuen, commanding general of the Philippine Air Force.The other passengers included various civilian and military aides to the President and three journalists.

Investigation

There were initial speculations that sabotage had caused the plane crash. Magsaysay had first come into prominence when as Secretary of Defense during the Quirino administration, he had led the fight against the communist-inspired insurgency of the Hukbalahap movement.However, no evidence emerged to support the theory of sabotage. On April 27, 1957, the chief of the Philippine Constabulary, General Manuel F. Cabal, testified before a Senate committee that the crash had been caused by metal fatigue, which had broken a drive shaft that caused a power failure on board the plane shortly after takeoff. He added that while the plane was gaining altitude, the spindle drive shaft of the right engine carburetor had snapped.

Talisay City, Cebu

Talisay City is a 3rd class city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 179,359 people.

Talisay is known for its "Inasal Baboy" (Roasted Pig). Its name is taken from the 'Mantalisay' tree which is abundant in the city. It is primarily a residential and trading center. Talisay City is part of a metropolitan area known as Metro Cebu.

Barangays

Talisay City is politically subdivided into 22 barangays.

Biasong

Bulacao

Cadulawan

Camp IV

Cansojong

Dumlog

Jaclupan

Lagtang

Lawaan I

Lawaan II

Lawaan III

Linao

Maghaway

Manipis

Mohon

Poblacion

Pooc

San Isidro

San Roque

Tabunok

Tangke

Tapul

History

Talisay was founded in 1648 as an estate owned by the Augustinians. In 1849, it was converted into a municipality with Silverio Fernandez as its first gobernadorcillo and Pedro Labuca as captain.

Some accounts claim that Talisay got its name from the Magtalisay trees which are endemic in certain areas of the municipality, while others claim that Talisay got its name from a town in Spain.

During both the American colonial period and World War II, Talisay served as a haven of colonial military forces. The municipality served as the center of guerrilla intelligence operations for the Philippine resistance movement in Cebu during World War II. Returning American and Filipino forces landed on the beaches of Talisay on March 28, 1945, an event that marked the eventual surrender of Japanese forces on Cebu. That day is now an official holiday in the province of Cebu.

In 2000, the municipality of Talisay was converted into a city.^[1] The municipality is now linked to Cebu City via the new South Coastal Highway from Lawaan, opened in 2004. This has brought some recent inward investment in the form of sub-divisions, some hastily planned and plagued by problems. Conflict has occurred between the residents of the mountain barangay of Maghaway and those of Crown Asia's Azienda Milan and Venezia sub-divisions. According to the National Statistics Office in its 2000 report, some 70 percent of the population of Talisay belongs to the urban poor. Talisay remains an important center for the production of blasting caps used in dynamite.

Commercial Center

Much of the commerce in Talisay City takes place in the Tabunok area, where several public markets, strip malls and commercial establishments are situated. The biggest mall is Gaisano Tabunok, which has a grocery, several floors displaying clothing and household items and a couple of theaters. However, much of the population still depend on the so-called "public markets", where they can find fresh meat, fish and vegetables, as well as other household needs there are many sari sari stores one being gloria's mini mart its great for all the locals who need hardware and house needs and fooding and with out the need of travel to go to tabanuk. Talisay City and the Tabunok area also serves as the commercial area for municipalities south of the city, being the south "gateway" to Cebu City, considered to be the biggest city outside of Metro Manila. Talisay City, its citizens and its surrounding barangays have lately benefitted immensely from the construction of the South Road Properties project, which is an 8-lane coastal highway from downtown Cebu City to the town of Minglanilla, but with several exits in between, many of which are exits to several areas of Talisay City. Because of this highway, traffic, which has always been a problem for the inhabitants in the past few years for this area, has been greatly reduced, making the city a popular zone for housing once more, as it was in the early 70's and 80's.

Cebu

Cebu is one of the provinces of the Philippines. It lies to the east of Negros Island; to the west of Leyte and to the southeast is Bohol province. It is flanked on both sides by the straits of Bohol (between Cebu and Bohol) and Tañon (between Cebu and Negros). Cebu is located between 9°25'N and 11°15'N latitude and between 123°13'E and 124°5'E longitude in the center of the archipelago.

Cebu Island is a long narrow island stretching 225 km (140 mi) from north to south, surrounded by 167 neighboring smaller islands, that includes Mactan Island, Bantayan, Malapascua, Olango and the Camotes Islands. Of the hundreds of small islands some are uninhabited which make them the targets of adventure-seeking tourists.

Cebu is known for its narrow coastlines, limestone plateaus, and coastal plains, all characteristics of a typical tropical island. Cebu also has predominant rolling hills and rugged mountain ranges traversing the northern and southern lengths of the island. Cebu's steep mountains reach over 1,000 meters. Flat tracts of land can be found in towns of Bogo, San Remigio, Medellin, and Daanbantayan at the northern tip of the province.

Its capital is Cebu City, the oldest city in the country, which forms part of the Cebu Metropolitan Area together with 6 neighboring cities Carcar City, Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Naga City and Talisay City and 6 other municipalities. Cebu is served by Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Mactan Island, thirty minutes drive from downtown Cebu City.

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the country and the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in the central and southern parts of the archipelago. It has five-star hotels, casinos, white sand beaches, world-class golf courses, convention centers, and shopping malls.

The Philippines

The Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas), officially the Republic of the Philippines (Republika ng Pilipinas; RP), is an archipelagic nation located in Southeast Asia, with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, bordering countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau and the Republic of China, although it is the only Southeast Asian country to share no land borders with its neighbors. The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country with a population approaching 90 million people. Its national economy is the 47th largest in the world with a 2006 gross domestic product (GDP) of over US$117.562 billion. There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, about 11% of the total population of the Philippines.

The Philippines was formerly a Spanish then an American colony. The Philippine Revolution was an attempt to gain independence from Spain, and later from the U.S. in the Philippine-American War. The Philippines ultimately gained its independence from the United States on July 4, 1946 after the Pacific War (the Second World War) via the Treaty of Manila. The Philippines then became a fledgling democracy until the authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos led to his overthrow in the People Power Revolution of 1986. Political upheavals alternated with peaceful transition of power on the period that followed.

Today, the Philippines has many affinities with the Western world, derived mainly from the cultures of Spain, Latin America, and the United States. Roman Catholicism became the predominant religion, although pre-Hispanic indigenous religious practices still exist. There are also followers of Islam. The two official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English.

Get Started...

Good day everyone! This is the first time I created blog here in blogspot.com. This is the very time I realize to create an account. I hope and I'll do my best to continue what I've started..
I'm Britz Cortez, 24, from Talisay City, Cebu, Philippines. Finished my studies in University of San Jose-Recoletos in a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication Engineer, batch 2006 (March 18, 2006). I currently connected in Taiyo Yuden Philippines in Mepza, as Technician, an electromechanical technician since June 2007. This is my first job, and I'm grateful and happy in my job. "Though frustrations cannot be undone, its part in our daily lives in which out of it, we learn something new".