Kapangan’s Silk Cocoons

Let’s give kudos to whoever thought of introducing silkworm farming in Kapangan. It seems like its going to be a success. Photo credit: John Javellana/Reuters.

Silkworms give Philippine farming town a makeover
By Manny Mogato/Reuters
KAPANGAN – Hundreds of white mulberry trees have started to cover mountain slopes deep in the northern Philippines’ Cordillera region, changing not just the landscape but also making over the image of a poor farming town.

Up until the early 2000s, the upland villages of Kapangan, a vegetable growing town of 18,000 people in Benguet province, was widely known as one of the country’s largest cultivation areas of an illegal plant — marijuana.

“We’ve started something to erase that tag,” Roberto Canuto, a public attorney in the province who was elected mayor in 2007, told Reuters. “We’re determined to be known as something else, perhaps, the silk capital of the country.”
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Update on Strawberry Woodstock

We received a note from Ramon Zialcita of Baguio Market Network informing us that the schedule for Strawberry Woodstock which was originally set on April 25-27 has been moved to May 29-31, 2008.

So change your schedule friends, especially if you are planning to watch this event via the internet. You can watch it on the Baguio Market website. Meanwhile, here’s the list of artists who confirmed their participation:

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Prosecution Fails to Present Evidence; Jose Cawiding Released

What an injustice to the man. Hinuli siya, ikinulong, tapos wala naman palang ebidensiya laban sa kanya. Anya met.

From Sunstar Baguio: THE Benguet Provincial Jail practically became the residence of Bayan Muna leader Jose Cawiding, since his detention in October last year.

But in an order signed last March 16 by Bontoc Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 35 Presiding Judge Joseph Patnaan, Cawiding and co-accused Leticia Banasan were ordered released and charges against them provisionally dismissed.

The prosecution failed to present their witnesses despite a series of hearings scheduled for the presentation of evidence.
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Dear Ignacio: No Need to Be Ashamed

Our kailiyan Ignacio Canuto should not be ashamed for billing Gloria. Ket inala met ni Gloria diyay strawberry, di dapat lang nga bayadan na. That’s P6,000, pare. Malaking pera iyon. Dapat talaga nga mabayadan.

If anyone should be ashamed, it should be Gloria’s staff because this is something they should have handled smoothly. Isuda ti dapat nga maba-in. Otherwise, Gloria will be liable for stealing if this is what happens wherever she goes, i.e., that she and her people harvest the produce of others without paying.

Ano kaya ang masasabi ng ating kailiyang si Presidential Assistant on the Cordilleras sa bagay na ito? Hehe

Farmer ashamed on billing Arroyo for harvest of strawberries
From GMA-7: The farmer who billed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the strawberries that she picked is now the one with the “strawberry” cheeks.

Ignacio Canuto wrote a letter to La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan saying that the whole thing was “an unfortunate and embarrassing experience.”

Canuto said that it wasn’t him who personally asked that Mrs Arroyo pay P6,000 for the 60 kilograms of the strawberries that she and her entourage picked from Canuto’s farm in Betag village last Black Saturday.
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The Biking Priest Goes to the Boondocks

Say hi to this guy, if you see him biking around our mountains. His name is Amado Picardal, a Redemptorist priest from Davao City who is biking around the country “for life and peace”.

Shocks, Fr. Amando naman inunahan mo ako dito. Plano ko ding gawin iyan. Hehe. We should really give props to our kababayans in Mindanao for coming up with creative ways of expressing their advocacies. Remember the group of farmers from Bukidnon who walked all the way to Malacañang?

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