Theft at a village in darkness

At a quarter before 10p.m., the Zone 1 neighborhood in Kalasungay, a hillside village in suburban Malaybalay City was like poetry in slow motion.

The distant barking of the dogs joined the symphony of the evening choir of insects and the rhythmic touch of the wind to the leaves of the Marang. There was no other sound except those of nature.

The light coming from our bedroom flickered into the dark road side. The ice-cold breeze in the rainy season evening touched my skin like a biting fog.

It was a perfect scene to hide under the bed covers. I slipped through the double blanket where C. was already slumbering. What a beautiful sleep it would be, I told myself. Cold turned warm and light turned dark as I closed my eyes and journeyed to dreamland.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Then a scream.

Love in the time of insurgency

That Bukidnon is a peaceful province is now a myth.

One cannot play blind to the kind of stories we hear from both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army about gaining strength against each other.

Both camps, even with disproportionate advantages, have brought the battlefield from the mountains to the media.

The news room has become a fierce war zone of propaganda.

Water down: Bukidnon eyes tigher rules on water rights

Water is inarguably Bukidnon’s most important agricultural resource.

It is a cause of wonder, however, why the sloppy process of acquiring water permits have escaped the pruning attention of local governments.

There were doubts raised by many over the years on the questionable process of acquiring water rights permits.

But over the years, too, local governments and communities seemed powerless over the matter.

Kalilang in a hotel under renovation, and identity in Mindanao

It was a bit awkward for me and Omar, a reserved Maguindanaoan who tried to be informative, as we took a peek at the wedding of a couple from two big Maguindanaoan families in Cotabato City.

We were looking through the window from our side of the conference hall— we looked like kids wanting to gate crash or something. Everybody in the training was doing just that as we waited for our morning session to start.

We were holding grassroots documentation and reporting training next door and the arrival of wedding guests drew our attention —especially when traditional wedding songs and hymns began to play.