Franklin Kawaen is Karate World Champ

Congratulations to our Dubai-based kailiyan Franklin Kawaen for his karate world championship win. He joins the ranks of Julian Chees and company whose achievements in the field of martial arts have helped shape a positive image for Igorots around the world. Kudos to you Franklin and keep on kicking.

Here’s the report on Franklin by Harley Palangchao. Photo above is courtesy of k-1.ae; please note that it is taken from a different event and not from the world championship which is the subject of Harley’s article.

Igorot karate teacher wins world championship
By Harley F. Palangchao/Manila Times

Continue reading Franklin Kawaen is Karate World Champ

Edward Folayang is URCC Open Weight Champ


The video shows Edward Folayang beating Carlos Baduria in their championship bout during the Universal Reality Combat Championship [URCC] held this month. ABS-CBN has a report on Folayang but the video is beyond bad so I decided not to upload it; still you can watch it here.

Warning: Some violence in the footage as may be expected in combat sports.

We’re Brothers Forever — An Ibaloi’s Version


Oops. Sorry. I’ve been ignoring this blog. It’s hard maintaining two blogs but I still haven’t figured out how best to merge them. Anyways, do you remember Reynaldo Lapuz? I’m sure you do, he’s the Fil-Am guy who became famous [infamous?] after his American Idol audition where he sang his own song, We’re Brothers Forever.

His fans produced different versions of his song which isn’t surprising because it’s really catchy [and as I stated here, sounds much better than the Olympic theme song hehe].

Continue reading We’re Brothers Forever — An Ibaloi’s Version

Paper Roses From Baguio’s Garbage

Can you imagine the impact if seemingly simple projects like this one are implemented by government authorities at a much bigger scale. There would be much lesser garbage and more livelihood opportunities. If small organizations can do it, I don’t see any reason why government cannot do it as well.

Let’s give the Women’s Livelihood Organization of Imelda Village in Baguio our Boon Award for their worthwhile project. Creating livelihood opportunities for 22 people is no joke and is a big accomplishment which deserves recognition. Cheers to you women of Imelda Village.

Continue reading Paper Roses From Baguio’s Garbage