Commemorating Andres Bonifacio: For His Sword is Mightier than the Pen

Today we are celebrating a (Phillipine) national holiday, Andres Bonifacio Day. We Filipinos all grew up learning, reading and even watching stories of our national heroes and Gat Andres Bonifacio is one of the favorites, for he fought alongside hundreds of suppressed Filipinos and lived in the same era as the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal. Although people may argue that Bonifacio deserved more the title and recognition of the Philippine's National Hero rather than Dr. Jose Rizal, what we all can agree upon is that Supremo's work was an integral part in conveying the message over to those oppressive minds of the once was Spanish colonists. Although the pen seems to be mightier than the sword in a more literate combative way and the pursuit of freedom for the Philippines that Rizal and his colleagues has started - In the end when mere words were not enough to get the message across to the seemingly more "civilized" colonizers,it was up to the sword to continue where the pen last took off. That the flames of nationalism and patriotism can overcome the masses fears, and for once freedom is really worth fighting for. Although the revolution that the Katipuneros fought for were not complete success, the valiant act of fighting for our country when everyone seems to have similar spirit but lacked the courage to do act is out is what made Andres Bonifacio and the Katipuneros the heroes that we Filipinos recognize up to this day.



Let us not lose track of what truly matters today, November 30, 2011 - a day once a year when we commemorate and pay respect to the heroism of The Father of Philippine Revolution, Gat Andres Bonifacio. Today we do belief that when the pen's might has lose its power, the sword (tabak at itak) is the only reliable way to get the message across. The Supremo, Andres Bonifacio is considered to be the face of the the everyday struggling suppressed Filipino masses. That amidst the poverty, when one dreams of something, no matter the odds, one can climb up to power and overcome those adversary even if it means disregarding his life to fight for the lives of the many. That is Andres Bonifacio.



A Youtube user-created tribute and biography to Andres Bonifacio:

First Philippine Automated Election Experience - We Casted Our Votes and Now We Wait

Today, May 10, 2010 marks the day of the first Philippine automated elections. Yours truly has just arrived from our local polling precinct here in Dasmariñas City and here is my first Philippine automated election experience...



The much talked about Philippine election has still managed to see the day even though there are so many speculations and arguments against it. Me and my whole family woke up early (around 5:30 am to be exact) in order to avoid the long lines that may awaits us later. I think it was just mom being to excited over the whole thing while me and my two other siblings are cool with the not waking up so early to cast our votes. By 6:00 pm the whole family went to the polling precinct only to find out that the lines have just started to build up and the actual voting will start at 7:00 am. after locating our precincts, me and my brother were the second and third one to fall in line. The BEI told us that the election will start at 7:00 pm but it didn't because the PCOS machine failed to start up. By 7:20 we are were allowed to enter the precinct and vote even if the machine have't been fixed yet.

Now on the actual voting process, I have completely made up my mind on who will my President and Vice-President will be, let's just say I went with the red-yellow tandem. The big challenge is the senators and the local candidates. Everything now boils down to the familiarity of the candidates and those who have made a good impression on me on the past election campaigns. On the local candidate lineup I just stick with the known line up of candidates my mom supports, because I personally do not know every one of them and their capabilities.

I was so anxious on how I shade the oval on my selected candidate because I don't want to waste my vote. So I think it took me about 4-7 minutes in carefully shading the ballot and on-the-spot picking of the local candidates. What I noticed and feared as I shade on the ballot is that the ink from the pen provided by the smartmatic/precinct blots through the opposite side of the ballot where the local candidates are listed. what if the machine won't read that side of the ballot. WEll, like anybody else I didn't experienced any public demonstration on how does the automation work so I have my worries. After repetitive going through each candidate and making sure that all ovals have been properly shaded, I now wait for the PCOS machine to be fixed. Two technical support personnel from Placewell International Services Corporations were already there fixing the election machine went haywire. After forty five minutes, we have finally inserted our ballots on the now working PCOS machine. Seeing the "congratulations" on the lower right most corner of the PCOS machine gave me a sense of relief that my vote won't be wasted and safe from any forms of conventional modes of election cheating.

We Casted Our Votes and Now We Wait...

Yes to Dasmariñas City! I Became A Part of the History of the Cityhood of Dasmariñas

December 03, 2009 (Thursday) - Last November 25, 2009 - Wednesday, a local holiday was implemented Dasmariñas Cavite to give way to the plebiscite regarding the cityhood of Dasmariñas in Cavite.



From the Municipality of Dasmariñas Province of Cavite to Dasmariñas City - The Official Dasmariñas History courtesy of Wikipedia...

Cityhood

1997-1998

HB08931 was filed by Congresman Renato P. Dragon with other cityhood bills of Imus(HB 08960) and Bacoor (HB (08959). It was filed last February 11, 1997 and read last February 13, 1997. Committee Report N0. 01361 was submitted on December 17,1997. It was approved on the third reading by the House last January 10, 1998. It did not push through as a Republic Act and no plebiscite happen.

2000

HB099883 was filed by Congressman Erineo Maliksi last March 13,2000. It was first read last March 13,2000. It was approved on the Second and Third reading of House last March 15,2000 and March 27, 2000. It was transmitted to the senate on March 28, 2000 and received on March 31, 2009. It did not push through as a Republic Act and no plebiscite happen.

2008-2009

The idea of converting Dasmariñas into a component city was again proposed after failure in 1997 and 2000. Recent unofficial surveys have shown that the municipality's inhabitants are now willing to push forward with cityhood.

House Bill no. 5258 converting the municipality of Dasmariñas into a component city was filed by Congressman Pidi Barzaga last October 03, 2008. It was read last October 06, 2008. It was approved by the House on Second and Third Reading on October 7 and November 17. It was transmitted and received by the senate last November 17 and 20 of 2008. It was passed by the senate on Second and Third Reading last October 28 and November 05, 2009. It is received by the President of the Philippines last October 14, 2009 and signed as Republic Act 9723 last October 15, 2009.

COMELEC Resolution No. 8682 in connection with the November 25, 2009 plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the municipality of Dasmariñas province of Cavite into a component city pursuant to Republic Act 9723 dated October 15, 2009.

Republic Act No. 9723 was ratified by the registered voters of Dasmariñas through a plebiscite conducted last November 25.2009, converted the municipality of Dasmariñas in the Province of Cavite into a component city to be known as the City of Dasmariñas. There were about 44,000 voters who cast the plebiscite ballot in the town’s 1,508 polling precincts. The yes votes won overwhelmingly. The yes votes got 36,559 while the no votes got 8,141.

Lone District of the City of Dasmariñas

The city of Dasmarinas shall have its own legislative district in the 2010 elections.

A bill was filed by Congressman Joseph Abaya with co-authors Congressman Pidi Barzaga and Crispin Remulla. The bill is supported by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Richard Gordon and Senator Ramon Bong Revilla. It was approved by the president of the Philippines as Republic Act 9727 last October 22, 2009.

However Republic Act 9723 (Dasmariñas City Charter) section 64 also includes the City of Dasmariñas shall have its own legislative district to commence in the next national election after the effectivity of this Act.

More about Dasmariñas City here...

I have noticed banners about the plebiscite of the cityhood of Dasmariñas and was curious on how will it happen... and on this date I've first exercised my right to vote (Yup, I am one of those first-time voters) and all my questions have been answered. Just when I thought that my first time to exercise my vote is on the upcoming 2010 election, came this Dasmariñas wide plebiscite.



We got up at around 6:00 in the morning because mom thought that it was gonna be as chaotic and crowded as the previous national elections, she was wrong. The whole process only took minutes and the prescint was't even that crowded. We went there together with the wife of the former barangay captain to exercise our vote. After a short meal (rice soup) courtesy of the barangay (I do not know what is the meal for, whether it is to bribe us to vote yes, but my vote would not be affected by such gimmicks... I will stick vote "Yes!" hahaha). We were able to get to the local voting prescint (local elementary school) via the public utility jeepney which was also commissioned by the new barangay captain who was the daughter of the former barangay captain.



We were guided to our voting prescints which only took us some minutes. Once there, we were ask to sign the voters registration sheet and place a thumb mark on it. The nail of my right index finger was tainted with a blue indelible ink and was handed out by the election marshal with the official voter's paper. There was a blank box where we could either say "Yes" or "No" to the cityhood of Dasmariñas and I wrote a big...Yes.

The whole process just took 5 minutes and we all head back home. After a day or so, I found out through a friend who called me that Dasmariñas is already a city. I know I am sloppy for not knowing the outcome of the plebiscite too soon for I may have ask mom or the barangay captain for the results, but hey! I was still enthusiastic and happy about the transformation of the municipality of Dasmariñas to the City of Dasmariñas. I became a part of the history of Dasmariñas, Cavite and probably the Philippines. I lived the day that I came to see the progress of our hometown Dasmariñas.

Bloggers Retreat To Cavite: A Town's Delight in Republic of Cavite Restaurant Bloggers Event Experience

Last September 05, 2009 (Saturday) yours truly together with the rest of my Metro Manila blogger peers traverse the road of Aguinaldo Highway to Governor's Drive for the Town's Delight Bloggers Event in Republic of Cavite Restaurant in Trece Martirez Cavite.



I woke up that day at exactly one in the afternoon, which means I am dreadfully late for the event. It was supposed to start at 1:00 pm so I panicked and felt hopeless that I may not be able to attend it. Luckily, after a split second, I gathered my guts again and decided to still attend the event (even I am that late). Funny thing was that the venue is just some half hour drive from our hometown Dasmariñas, Cavite and there I was, betrayed by my own body clock hehehe.



It was drizzling that time because of some aftereffects of the storm has just left the country. While on the road to Trece Martirez, Cavite, I kept in touch with the bloggers already on the venue and they have already started which adds up to the pressure and made me think that I may probably be too late but thank goodness I am not. I arrived there to find two bloggers who were invited and in the same situation as I am and we three proceeded to the venue, Republic of Cavite behind Trece Martirez City Hall.



What was noticeable is the similarity of the venue for the Town's Delight Blogger event to that of the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit Cavite. See for yourself here:



The Aguinaldo's Shrine in Kawit Cavite





This obviously is the reason why the venue was named Republic of Cavite... from the original seat of power of the first Republic of the Philippines lead by the First President of the Republic, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo



Some familiar faces greeted us on the venue and mentioned that they were warmly welcomed by the people of Town's Delight and Republic of Cavite. We were also welcomed to the Bulwagang Cuenca of the Republic of Cavite.





We later, helped ourselves with the very fine cuisines served at us on Town's Delight Bloggers Event at the Republic of Cavite Restaurant.











While dining we discussed a few things about Trece Cavite, some blogging concerns, and the latest technology and movie buzz. We were offered to try the Cafe' Amadeo, black coffee from Amadeo Cavite which was really strong. I haven't tasted any black coffee for a while now but it can really awaken one's senses once you take a sip or two of the strong coffee.



We also tried the Salabat Iced Tea (Ginger Juice) which was kinda unique. Besides the fact that it was served with ice (I usually drink it hot), it was also sweet and very tasty though it still retained that distinct soothing ginger feel on the throat aftereffect.





We also sampled Authentic Filipino delicacies and desserts.

After trying out all those wonderful dishes by Town's Delight and Republic of Cavite, we went on a tour and was directed to the Republic of Cavite's Showroom.







Town's Delight The Caterer is not your typical caterer for they have been professionally celebrating 35 years of culinary expertise and food services, and still counting. When you are looking for Elegant yet affordable catering services with top-notch food services, Town's Delight is definitely your pick. You can visit them at their official website here:


http://townsdelight.com/

We still have some time to spend by then, so why not see the rest of the Republic...



We visited the actual Republic of Cavite Restaurant below the Bulwagang Cuenca which goes towards the direction of Munting Tagaytay...



The Munting Tagaytay area resembles the scenic view of the actual Tagaytay Picnic Grove in Tagaytay City. We took a snapshot or two from that venue.




After that small excursion to the Republic of Cavite's version of some of Cavite's most popular destinations (Kawit Cavite and Tagaytay City) we called it a day and was sent home with a bilao of Town's Delight Desserts...



To put it to our own language...
Isang bilao ng pasalubong ng pagkasarapsarap na kakanin handog ng Town's Delight at Republic of Cavite ng Trece Martirez Cavite.

The History of Trece Martirez (Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite)

Thirteen well-knowned citizens of Cavite who were captured by the Spanish Government for the alleged conspiracy and aiding the revolution in Cavite on August 31, 1896. Though the thirteen were innocent, they were still sentenced to death by an unfair trial. The thirteen were shot in the afternoon of September 12, 1896 in the San Felipe Camp in cavite. The name of the Thirteen martyrs were:

Luis Aguado, Eugenio Cabezas, Feliciano Cabuco, Agapito Conchu, Maximo Inocencio, Maximo Gregorio, Jose Lallano, Severino Lapidario, Victoriano Luciano, Alfonso De Ocampo, Francisco Osorio, Hugo Perez, and Antonio SAn Agustin.

Our last stop was the Trece Martirez Monument at the side of the Governor's Drive and took some pictures before calling it a great day at Trece Martirez, Cavite. Together with the Metro Manila Bloggers we went home with a great Trece Martirez experience thanks to Republic of Cavite and Town's Delight The Caterer.