Posted: May 6th, 2011 | Filed under: Opinion | Tags: fbi, iloilo, ilonggo, ilonggo jokes, north cotabato |
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/5 May) – While aboard a boat from Visayas to Mindanao, passengers would usually stay on the deck to enjoy the rejuvenating air while at sea. And this is what happens when a Cebuano and an Ilonggo travel together:
“Hala, may pating sa dagat, To!” Dodong tells Toto. To his surprise, Toto looks up in the sky and asks: “Diin man? Waay gani pro!”
Clearly, they don’t understand each other because in the Cebuano dialect, pating means shark. But in Ilonggo, it means dove. Read More »
Posted: April 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Opinion, Travel | Tags: fbi, iloilo, ilonggo, karay-a, midsyap, north cotabato, pigcayawan, pototan |

DAVAO CITY (19 April 2011) — Since I was young, I have often heard my grandparents talk about their hometowns in Panay Island, Western Visayas.
Even my uncles also talk about their vacation experience in Iloilo, particularly Pototan town, which is about 45 minutes away from Iloilo City.
Just last week, Ruby and I had the chance to visit Panay Island, where most of the settlers in Southwestern Mindanao came from. Having born and grown up in Mindanao, I have always been eager to visit our beloved Iloilo.
There’s a joke among Ilonggos that when you say you’re going to visit Iloilo, you will have to “renew.” It means you have to have your “license to boast” renewed in Iloilo.
It has been a joke that Ilonggos are known “tikalon” or boastful. Tikalon also means talking exaggeratedly. I still wonder why. Read More »
Posted: April 18th, 2011 | Filed under: News Events, Photojournalism | Tags: azkals, barotac nuevo, caligdong, coke go-for-goal, cotabato, domingo subo, football filipinas, gener, ian araneta, iloilo, m'lang, pototan, ruby thursday more |

During my early high school years in Koronadal, I used to watch football games at school as well as during the regional athletic games. I never had an interest to play football because I was more inclined to play baseball. It’s because my grandfather in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato used to be a little league baseball when he was still teaching. Maybe he has influenced me since I was a kid.
But when I moved to Pigcawayan on my 2nd year high school, my interest in football slowly faded. I played baseball and sometimes basketball. In North Cotabato, football is only popular among the folks in M’lang. But I could remember during Coke Go-For-Goal tournaments in Marbel, wherein teams from Iligan, M’lang, South Cotabato and other top teams in Mindanao. I could not remember Davao.
Years have past, I barely watch football games even on TVs. During the 2010 World Cup, I rarely get updates. Aside from I don’t have a cable TV to watch the games live, I wasn’t interested. Kung may ara update, ti sige mabasa ko, kung wala, okay lang man ah. Read More »