January 25th, 2008
Arcelie Laoagan, 40, from Sagada, Mountain Province, Naguilian, Isabela and Santa Cruz, Ilocos Sur, Philippines had been found by subway train workers on Friday behind a church in Calgary, Alberta.
Laoagan was reported missing on January 17 when she failed to return home.
Body found near the Grace Baptist Church.
So Laoagan isn’t from Sagada as previously reported. No wonder it looked odd when I was her kids on TV. They didn’t seem to be in Sagada.
Tags: Sagada
Posted in Philippines | 2 Comments »
January 25th, 2008
Zennia Aguilan, 31, from Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.
Tags: Sagada
Posted in Cordillera, Igorot | 1 Comment »
May 1st, 2007
Verdict?
Ugly.
Why have a .com.ph domain when you can have a .com ? OK somebody else got that first. One year earlier.
And everything else is just plain ugly.

It looks better in the thumbnails, so go see for yourself baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph .
Posted in Business, Cordillera | No Comments »
April 17th, 2007
Will eating too much etag (smoked pork) cause lung damage? Well’ I’m not sure about that, but
A study has found that the preservatives in bacon, ham and salami could harm the lungs in the same way as emphysema.
…
Lead researcher Dr Rui Jiang, of Columbia University in New York, said: “Cured meats are high in nitrites, which are added to meat products as a preservative, an anti-microbial agent and a colour fixative. Nitrites may cause damage to the lungs.”
The chemicals are thought to generate reactive molecules that produce structural damage to lung tissue.
The researchers found that high consumers of cured meats were likely to be male, of lower socio-economic status, to smoke and to have a low intakes of fruit, vegetables and vitamins.
Dr Jiang said further studies of the link between dietary nitrite and COPD were needed.
So do alnus (Japanese alder) twigs and leaves have high nitrate content? In Sagada, they usually smoke the pork that becomes etag usually by letting the sweet smell of fresh alnus twigs and leaves permeate the meat and fat the whole day.
The last thing I read was that nitrates or whatever preservatives in hotdogs cause headaches so if you are migraine prone like me, do something with your breakfast choices.
Posted in Cordillera, Igorot | No Comments »
April 16th, 2007
Excerpt:
If comedians or talk-show hosts are funny enough, in any of the hard-to-define ways that can be determined, they often earn a pass when offensive material is used.
Of course, it’s not a universal pass; many people will never find humor that flirts with racism or sexism or homophobia funny and will continue to be offended and hurt by it. But the pass often works even if the humor is what comedy experts sometimes call “outsider to insider” joking — a white comedian wielding minority stereotypes; a straight woman making fun of lesbians — a much trickier proposition than insider humor.
And more:
“Things like this require you to make a quality distinction, which is so hard to do,” said Mr. Kelly, who is white.
Read article.
Posted in Humor | No Comments »
April 1st, 2007
Name: Bernadette Dominguez Sembrano
Birthdate: February 18, 1976
Worked with GMA-7 then moved to ABS-CBN.
Her mom worked in Manila as a PNB employee (check here) so most likely city girl etong si Bernadette.

Bernadette’s mom is currently a city councilor of Baguio. She became part of the council when one of the winning candidates (Bilog) died before the counting of ballots was over. In her campaign materials, she identified herself as from Sabangan, Mountain Province. She confirmed that Bernadette is her daughter during the campaign period.
Updates:
Bernadette’s mom is now a councilor of Baguio City.
After getting married with an Aguinaldo scion, she and her husband went to Baguio and and held a wedding ceremony/celebration at the Baguio Convention center. Her gown was partly made of an Igorot weave.
Posted in Igorot | 2 Comments »
April 1st, 2007
The winner chickened out. But anyway –
Last month a woman who goes by the chat nickname “Igorota” auctioned herself off online for a date. The winning bidder ultimately stood her up, but she made P2,050 for her trouble.
Another woman who calls herself “Jimili” offered her services online as a one-day maid-and drew a bigger amount of P5,000.
The two Baguio-based women continued to hide behind their chat-room names even when the money they earned became part of a donation to finance the operation of 9-year-old Santy John Tuyan, who is afflicted with a heart ailment.
To the wonders of Internet, add fundraiser for sick kids
published April 30, 2006
Philippine Daily Inquirer article by Vincent Cabreza
Read the rest of the article at inquirer.net here.
Posted in Igorot | No Comments »
April 1st, 2007
The term Igorota has been dragged into a scandal involving the First Gentleman.
Maria Celia Virginia Suarez, the woman who claimed to have had an illicit affair with the First Gentleman, revealed that Atty. Mike Arroyo fondly called her “Favorita” and referred to Mrs. Arroyo as “Igorota.” Which was very appropriate since Attorney Arroyo resembles that ‘barrel man’ from Baguio. [Source: The Professional Heckler]
The Philippines Star published an article that goes:
[Suarez] said Mr. Arroyo, in their drinking sprees, would often refer to her as “favorita” and Mrs. Arroyo as “Igorota.”
‘Favorita’ and ‘Figaro’: Another scandal hits FG
The Philippine Star
March 13, 2007
not archived online
The paper got its information from here . All posts in the said blog have been deleted.
Now a number of bloggers are calling Gloria Igorota as if it were the worst name in the world.
Posted in Igorot | 1 Comment »
March 9th, 2007
Alfredo Gayagay Lamen
- 5th Congress Representative, First District of the old Mountain Province (1961–1965)
- First Provincial Governor, appointed and inducted by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos (1967)
- 7th Congress Representative of the lone District of the present Mountain Province (1969–1972)
* On June 18, 1966, Republic Act 4695 divided Mt. Province into four distinct provinces, namely: Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao.
Lam-en vs. Carlos P. Romulo
The only difference is that he wears his g-string around his neck while I wear mine below.
Lam-en vs. Labo
Next, bringing the crowd to a full crescendo was the voice of the former governor and former congressman from Mountain Province, Atty. Alfredo Lam-en. Well into his late sixties or early seventies, with a self-described John Wayne profile, Lam-en unabashedly sang out his greetings in Ilokano to protesters using a distinctively Cordilleran chant known as oggayam. Although the chant is often heard at village gatherings in Abra, Kalinga, and Mountain Province, few if any other Baguio attorneys would have been so unabashed in acknowledging their roots. “It is true that we are all Igorots here, even the nun who is the child of Jesus Christ,” chanted Lam-en, to a loud cheer of approval.
Calling attention to his own bloodshot eyes, allegedly caused by three sleepless nights after reading the mayor’s remarks, Lam-en used self-directed humor to evoke great laughter. At the same time, he warned protesters in a serious tone not to take the law into their own hands. Revealing the syncretic nature of religion in much of the Cordillera, the former governor stated that the powerful “non-Christian” deity, Kabunian, would deal appropriately with this matter. Lam-en, a cofounder in 1950 of the first Cordillera-wide youth organization that brought together students from all the highlander ethnolinguistic groups, had affectionately been introduced as “no other than our father from the Cordillera.” His closing words, “Mabuhay ang Kaigorotan” [Long live the Igorot], were loudly applauded, suggesting the degree to which the crowd appreciated their dual status as Igorot and Filipino. [source]
Posted in Cordillera, Igorot | 4 Comments »
March 9th, 2007
Carlos Pena Romulo (1899-1985)

- Philippine general, journalist and diplomat. He supported the Allies during WW II during Japanese invasion and occupation
- president of the United Nations General Assembly (1949-50)
- chairman of the UN Security Council; recipient of Pulitzer Prize in journalism (1942).
Posted in People | No Comments »