Bandilyo Abaknon

It's Kamahalan or Holy Week once more. It's the time of the year when the entire Christian World observes one of the cornerstones of their faith - the death of Christ to save humanity. For Abaknons, Kamahalan has always been a very important season. Even those already based outside the island would go home at this time to experience the unique way we express our devotion to God on this occasion. People say that some changes have been brought about by the passing of generations, but the core of the activities remain the same. In the childhood days of this writer's generation, the Abaknon Kamahalan would, on general terms, be like this: Palm Sunday would be observed like the way it is today. The only difference is that every person makes his own palm design and nobody buys or sells them. Preparing the palms is a devotion in itself - a true labor of love. From Holy Monday to Wednesday, people flock to church for the group reflections. The Santo Ehersisyo is a time when th...

Attention Abaknon Writers: Bandilyo Abaknon will be holding an Essay Writing contest open to all Abaknons of any age or profession. It may be written in English, Tagalog or Inabaknon. The essays shall focus on anything Abaknon: the writer’s personal experiences in Capul or his being Abaknon, his/her impressions of its people, its customs and traditions and everything else of the same grain. The essays must be original and must not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere, in print or in the net. School essays will be accepted. There will no prescribed length, but the entries must be concise enough to meet the brevity requirements of a blog. It will be appreciated if pictures accompanying the entries will likewise be sent. Participants may adopt a pseudonym for publication purposes, but all entries must contain the name, age and other personal/professional details of the writer for the administrator's records. Prizes will be given as follows:* 1st pla...

Saret Cula is now in England - escaping the punishing heat in the Philippines and enjoying the contrasting cold. Saret is there on vacation to visit his daughter, Glee, who is currently working for Nationwide Bank as data administrator. She is married to Chris Eades (will post a separate article on the couple later). The pics shown here were taken during their afternoon "lakwatsa" in a British High Street.

It's blazing hot in the Philippines now. It might just help us cool down a bit if we see the chilly cold spell on the other side of the world. The pics were sent by Genalyn Esperas-Cortez who is now based in British Columbia, Canada.

  Metro Magazine has released this March its yearly list of "sizzling eyeful of the opposite sex's best specimen" which it dubs as Men of Summer . And guess what, of the eight featured men, one is model Alvin Aguilar, who of course is an Abaknon.   The complete rundown of Metro's Men of Summer is as follows: * ANTON DEL ROSARIO, SOCCER COACH * ALVIN AGUILAR, MODEL * JARED DILLINGER, PBA PLAYER * SOLOMON MERCADO, PBA PLAYER * GABE NORWOOD, PBA PLAYER * REY PAMARAN, BUSINESSMAN * FRANCIZ ALLERA, PBA PLAYER * JOME SILAYAN, STUDENT Alvin may not have spent much time in Capul, but he claims he is an Abaknon by  heart.  In an on-line interview with Bandilyo, he said that he actually studied in Capul Central Elementary School from Grade 3 to 6 and started his 4th year in CAIS. As if to prove his claim, he mentioned the names of his former classmates (the batch of Ritchie Enecillo , Dianne Marzol and Glem Garais); Y2004). And to cap it, he even admitted to sti...