Blessing Of A Semi-Residential House In Brgy. Abgao

Feb. 14,2012



Blessing of Semi-Residential House In Abgao
By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-A blessing of a newly –opened 4-room semi-residential house in brgy. Abgao here was held recently.

The blessing was officiated by Rev. Margarito Soco.It was attended by Luz Verrano Mercado, her daughter Angela “Ghia” Verrano Mercado,Abgao Barangay Capt. Nacional “Nikko” Mercado and his wife,and some relatives and friends.

It is located a few meters away from the Villa Romana Hotel which on its adjacent side is the KINAMOT SA ABGAO RESTAURANT FACING THE SOGOD BAY AND CANIGAO CHANNEL.

ACCORDING TO OUR SOURCE THE DECISION TO CONVERT THE BUILDING INTO A SEMI- RESIDENTIAL HOUSE WAS KINDLED BY AN OBSERVATION THAT WHEN VILLA ROMANA HOTEL WOULD BE OVERCROWDED BY TEMPORARY LODGERS LIKE VISITORS,TRAVELLERS INCLUDING LOCAL AND FOREIGN TOURISTS ,SOME CUSTOMERS WOULD INEVITABLY BE TURNED DOWN AND WOULD JUST LOOK FOR OTHER HOTEL.

OUR SOURCE IMPLIED THAT ALTHOUGH THE NEWLY-OPENED SEMI –RESIDENTIAL HOUSE WAS INTENDED FOR RELATIVES,FRIENDS AND VISITORS,OTHER OCCUPANTS WHO CANNOT BE ACCOMMODATED AT THE VILLA ROMANA HOTEL NEARBY COULD ALSO BE BROUGHT THERE FOR TEMPORARY LODGING.

AFTER THE BLESSING LUNCH WAS SERVED TO ALL THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT.

THE NEWLY –RENOVATED EDIFICE WHICH BEARS THE NAME OF ANGELA’S BED AND BREAKFASTS COULD BE CONTACTED AT TELEPHONE NUMBERS (053)381-0401; (053)570-8283.MOBLIE PHONE NO.0917-308-7986. EMAIL ADDRESS:ANGELAS_BNB@YAHOO.COM.(QUIRICO M, GORPIDO,JR.)

Congressman Mercado Highlights His 60th Birthday Celebration With Tree Planting

Sept 10,2011

Congressman Mercado Highlights His 60th Birthday Celebration With Tree Planting
By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-Less than 2,000 tree seedlings composed of acacia mangium and mahogany were planted in brgy. Gutusan here on the eve of Congressman Roger Mercado’s birthday which was participated in by all barangay officials,city councilors and department heads, some provincial officials led by Vice- Governor Miguel Maamo, 11,heads of line agencies and some capitol employees.
Mercado has likewise sponsored medical-dental mission for senior citizens at the city gymnasium in the morning of his natal day.
The birthday celebrant together with his family,relatives,friends,District office employees and supporters celebrated Mercado’s natal day at Lola Edad Beach Resort in brgy, Ibarra, the same venue during his last year’s birthday.
Unlike his 59th birthday anniversary when there were scheduled presentations of some participants to the various programs, the recent celebration during the 4th week of August 2011 was the reverse.
Those barangays,city and provincial officials or employees who wanted to present or offer songs,orations,dances or sketches would just approached the EMCEE Maria Effie Garvez to inform her of their intention and the floor would be given to them.
Other invited guests also included, among others, some municipal Mayors and Vice- Mayors,some councilors,PNP personnel led by Pepito Pacada of the provincial Police office and Maasin Police led by Hector Flores Enage,some press people. Former Presidential Spokesman for Eastern Visayas and former DPWH Secretary Vic Domingo was also present.
A municipal official from Hinunangan offered 4 Beattle songs to the birthday celebrant-I Saw Her Standing There, Help, I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party and Mr. Moonlight- which he rendered well to the delight of Congressman Mercado and the whole crowd.
Moreover, newcomer City Councilor Romeo Geniston also rendered some English songs and Visayan songs for the celebrant. The singing councilor who is a practicing lawyer has as nice voice.Everytime he is invited to any affair, it’s a common happening that he would be requested to sing before the audience.
The revived Stringbirds band of the 60s has served as the main musical accompaniment to those who wanted to offer songs to the Congressman. The band was the mainstay attraction to music lovers in the 1960s,70s and the 80s.They rendered some songs of the Beattles,Hollies,Herman’s Hermits, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and the Dave Clark Five.
At four in the afternoon, some of the officials, guests and visitors have started leaving the place. While others chose to stay and continue to enjoy the food and drinks until past five.(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)

Abby Dyanne’s Enterprises & Printing Press
169 E. Rosales St, Tagnipa, Maasin City, So.Leyte
Telefax no.(053)570-9759,mobile phone no.
09278609437; 09155555875; 09176323264
Services offer: Tarpaulin printing starts today, Sept. 5, 2011;
Photocopy; Risograph; Lamination; Calendars; Button Pins;
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Abigail Daclan Palermo, Proprietor/Manager

Supercha 1 Food Hauz & Catering Services
Telephone nos.(053)570-8623; (053)381-2233
Visit website: www.supercharesto.multiply.com

N.B.The eleven years old city of Maasin has no skin specialist yet until now. Only those w ho have the means can go to Cebu City for their skin problems. But those with little income cannot afford to go to Cebu for consultations. We hope that a skin specialist/dermatologist from nearby cities will be interested to put up a clinic here to serve those who have skin problems.

Please Help Me If You Can

March 4,2011

Please, Help Me If You Can

By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

I am calling on my relatives, both father and mother sides, particularly those who have the means and the capacity to help a poor relative. If only I have my own dwelling, I could have refrained myself from asking some sort of assistance from my kith and kin. However, I have been renting a house for the past 20 years now since I started to live independently away from any siblings’ reliance. Our parents have already passed away many years ago. Because of poverty, some of my siblings were not even able to finish high school education. We have separated from each other earlier than most instances that happened to a poor family. It was only thru my initiative efforts that I was able to study in high school as a working student in ICC (now De La Salle University) in Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental where my siblings and I grew up.

I was able to take up journalism when I decided to go to Metro Manila where I worked in the past and stayed there for several years. But when I lost my job I was forced to stop my study. My experiences of acquiring some commonly manual works including two private companies where I happened to work did not make me well enough to live a much better life than when I was still young. The little progress in my life did not serve well to materialize my desire to own a house until now.

If only there would be an existing housing projects initiated by the Government exclusively for the poor Filipinos who are houseless that could be owned thru affordably low monetary monthly payment for the period of ten years, I could have my own house and lot now. But there is none that exist here and I’m still renting and always moving from one house to another like a migratory bird.

It would be taxing to always be renting. My little savings would usually be used mainly for a monthly rental. It seems that houseless people are always struggling everyday to be able to pay one’s monthly obligations to their landlords/landladies. If you happen to live in a boarding house owned by a non-compassionate landlord or landlady, chances are you will be ordered to leave the house and look for another boarding house. But how can you look for another lodging house, when in the first place you were not able to pay your preceding rental obligation? You see! This is the common fate that would happen in some occasions to some boarders who have no immediate funds to pay for their house rents. It would be hard indeed and hurtful for those who have undergone such experiences.

The housing projects that I know available are only for those government workers who have contributed to PAGIBIG fund. How about those who are not government workers and have no money to contribute regularly for 20 years at least as requirement for possible acquisition of PAG-IBG-sponsored housing units? The poor have none of this kind.

We are calling on the present Administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino,111 and to the succeeding Presidency to please consider for the establishing of another kind of government-sponsored housing projects exclusively constructed for houseless poor Filipinos who have no house of their own, but continue to live under the dictation and mercy of their respective landladies or landlords who imposed monthly rentals according to their satisfying wishes.

I’m not talking about the housing projects under the supervision of the so-called Urban Poor. It seems that these so-called Urban Poor dwellings -approach did not really cater to those who are indeed poor. I heard stories that most of these so-called “Urban Poor” are not really poor people. Unofficial reports have it that they were the first to gain an acquisition of housing units, because they have the means to pay much quickly than the poor ones. How true is this?

Indeed, there’s really the need to construct in every province of the country housing units, exclusively for the genuine poor. Genuine poor refers those who have only a little income, but did not own houses of their own and continue paying their monthly rentals for many years already. Another Chairman of this kind of housing projects is needed for him to focus on the task of surveying the genuine poor anchor on the premise that these poor Filipinos are houseless and continue to pay monthly renting for their respective dwellings.

Vie-President Jejomar Binay’s Chairmanship of Pag-ibig –sponsored housing projects should be his focus so that this kind of projects he’s tasked to do would be effectively implemented, with similar expectations to that of the Chairmanship’s in the housing units for the genuine poor Filipinos in all provinces of the archipelago.

I hope that officials appointed by the new President to the housing committee will be able to read this article in the internet and will be moved with altruistic concern. That a compassionate concern would drive the Chairman Committee on Housing projects and its members in Congress for the millions of poor Filipinos to act with dispatch. And that plans for the approach of truly helping the millions of poor Filipinos will be realized in the near future.

Nevertheless, on my personal side, it’s too long years for me to wait. But my abovementioned idea is worth implementing for the Aquino Administration to start the planning now for the welfare and benefit of millions of poor houseless Filipinos who I am specifying categorically here in this piece. We, the millions of us poor Filipinos are hoping the government will bail us out soon from our predicament and plight.

On my part, I have been struggling for more than 20 years now of monthly renting from different boarding houses that I happened to live in different places. And I think that this duration is quite long enough for my endurance to suffer from such kind of struggle. I hope that a well-off relatives or relative who has owned a big lot would be kind enough to share a part of his/her land for constructing a house that could accommodate 6 to 7 persons. It would be good if there would be a portion of his lot also which I could plant some vegetables for family consumption and could also plant some fruit trees so that I would not be buying always vegetables and fruits in the public market.

Here are the marks to show to which I am related by blood on both sides of my father and my mother. My maternal grandmother is Marcela Almendras (deceased) whose roots are from Ilocos Norte. My maternal great grandfather is Pastor Almendras (deceased) who hails from Laoag, Ilocos Norte. My mother Lourdes Almendras Monte de Ramos (deceased) was born in Southern Leyte province. My maternal grandfather is Tomas C. Monte de Ramos (deceased) of Southern Leyte. All I know about my grandfather’s lineage is that the Monte de Ramos clan originally settled in barangay Nasaug, Maasin City, Southern Leyte. Some of them have migrated to other places in the province and even some have moved to settle in Mindanao. I have also three or four first cousins who are now living in various areas in Mindanao to look for a greener pasture.

Nonetheless, our great greatgrandfather who bears the family name of Monte de Ramos hails from the province of Negros Oriental. He migrated to Southern Leyte and got married here. Some of his siblings chose to settle in Mindanao. His progeny got married and their children have multiplied. That’s why there are so many Monte de Ramoses in Southern Leyte.

On the other hand, my paternal grandfather is Agapito Gorpido (deceased) of Pambujan, Northern Samar. My paternal grandmother is Eugenio Siervo (deceased) also of Pambujan, Northern Samar. My father is Quirico Siervo Gorpido, Sr.(deceased). I also know that there are some Siervos living in the province of Negros Oriental .With this information that I’ve got somewhere, I have the perception that these Siervos have the highest possibility that they belong to only one tree that the Siervos in Northern Samar have progenically belonged.

With my aforementioned family backgrounds my kith and kin who happen to read this article can now easily identify themselves definitely with me who needs their compassionate help. I hope that some of my distinguished relatives or relative who has the capacity to offer help will have the great interest to extend his/her generous help in sharing part of his/her large lot that I can own. And where a proposed house can be constructed and that I can plant also some vegetable and some fruit trees for family consumption. In this way I will not be buying always at the public market for such things. Similarly, I can have my own permanent residence and that no one will be driving me out anymore because I have no available money to pay for my monthly rent.

I hope that a kindhearted and generous relative who have the means to help me will be able to read my piece in the internet and will readily contact me thru my email address here in my blog (click About Me piece above the template’s interface).I’ll be waiting for your help.

I’ll reiterate, I hope that some of my relatives, both mother side and father side, who are internet users will be able to read this piece in the internet and are or is interested to extend a compassionate generosity of sharing his/her portion of his/her big lot for a house construction where I could permanently live, and can also plant some vegetables and fruit trees for family consumption. I also hope that such kind of a relative or relatives with golden hearts can read this article in the internet. I hope. (Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)