One impression of people abroad regarding our OFWs is that, the latter are fond of singing. And many of them are good singers. If, in other countries, only gifted singers sing in public, people in our country do so even if their voices are terribly out of tune. We love to sing. We can’t help it. We aren’t just contented with listening to songs; we want to sing ourselves.
In every gathering—birthday party, wedding, anniversary, or a mere drinking session—singing is always a vital part of the show. Lucky if the group has a nice singer in it who can take the lead in the singing spree. If there’s none, the group will have to content with their own voices, though they may sound like horny cats.
This explains the proliferation of singing devices throughout the country. And the spread of pirated minus one and multiplex records.
It first started with the so-called jukebox, a big sound box installed in public places like bars and restaurants. But it only allowed people to choose their songs to listen to. There was no provision for them to sing along. If they wanted to, they could only sing in their seats without their voices registering in the loud speakers. The recording artist was still the one doing the singing as recorded.
To resolve this singing monopoly of the recording artist, the karaoke was invented. This time, anyone who can get hold of a microphone could participate in the singing, and choose the preferred songs. This was with the use of minus one or multiplex cassette records.
How the people welcomed its advent. Karaoke bars mushroomed in various places. Even can-afford households bought their own karaoke systems for home use. Neighbors could share with the sounds even if they are already retired in bed in the middle of the nights, amid the howling of dogs.
With the karaoke, though, a singer had to have the lyrics of the songs in hand, or he could not follow the songs well. When copies of those songs got lost, or damaged, a big problem followed. The singer would have to resort to humming.
To remedy this, another breakthrough was introduced, and that was the videoke. With this, loud speakers have to be aided with a TV monitor. As the singer sings, the lyrics of the songs appear on the monitor screen for ease of singing. Backgrounds of the lyrics could be had, too, depending on one’s choice—beautiful scenes, animals in the wild, sexy, near-naked girls, etc.
This is so common nowadays—the videoke, replacing the karaoke of old. We can see it everywhere, in special gatherings, as a form of entertainment among the people in attendance. And it’s not without pay-off. People especially children are developing their singing talents, enabling them to present excellent numbers during programs, making them win various awards in singing competitions, even allowing many of them to get international attention, as was the case of Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda, who are now international singing sensations.
All this is proof we really are a singing generation, a singing race.
Despite having garbage trucks roaming around the city of Tacloban, garbage collection is still problematic in many ways, resulting in the accumulation of trash in many areas, including the uncollected ones from homes.
It can be noted that, in some areas, trash barrels are installed in designated corners to make it easy for the garbage collectors to pick them up. Other areas pile up their trash along some roads, at a designated time and date, although this is unhealthy for the people nearby who get exposed to filthy materials. But in some districts, piling up of trash is totally disallowed, hence the accumulation of trash inside the residents’ homes.
The problem is, garbage trucks do not consistently visit the interiors of the city, which is understandable because the bulk of garbage that they pick up along the way is likewise unpredictable. So in this case, what will the people do with their accumulating trash whose piling up is not allowed, yet the garbage trucks do not also collect? Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening in many areas, such as some subdivisions.
Indeed, it’s a big problem for many households—they’re accumulating garbage that they cannot just dump anywhere, that the trash collectors do not collect. Yet city residents pay for these garbage services every year. This is something that the makers of city ordinances should look into and revisit. Surely this is a problem to address.
TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Leyte Second District Engineering Office (L2DEO), is currently implementing a road widening and drainage project along the Jaro-Dagami-Burauen-La Paz road section in the town of Dagami.
According to District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura, Dagami road is a vital tertiary road that lies between Jaro and Burauen road network.
“This road network serves as an alternate route instead of the major highways, so it is necessary to expand the road to enhance accessibility for the traveling public. While the purpose of the drainage canal is to serve as a waterway for rainwater from the surface of the road,” he said.
The project’s funding is sourced from the department’s allocation for this fiscal year in the amount of P29.36 million.
It involves the widening of the road from 2-lane to 4-lane in Barangay Plaridel, measuring 400 linear meters in 3.35-meter width on both sides of the existing pavement, and the construction of drainage structures that will be placed in the villages of Plaridel and Rizal, both in Dagami town.
The project, which started on March 6 of this year, is expected to be completed on October 20. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
NSSDEO, Brgy. Burabud, Laoang, Northern Samar- Under the leadership of District Engineer Charlito S. Carlobos, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Northern Samar Second District Engineering Office has completed the retrofitting and strengthening works of Pambujan bridge to make it more resistant to flooding occurrences of the massive Pambujan River.
The Pambujan Bridge is a permanent bridge structure having 190.85 meters length situated along the Catarman-Laoang Road in Pambujan, Northern Samar. The project is funded under the General Appropriation Act CY 2022 amounting to P29.4 million.
With contract ID No. 22II0037, the said project was started last March 28, 2022 under contract with CDU Construction, with direct supervision of Miriam O. Engo as Project Engineer.
District Engineer Charlito S. Carlobos said that the bridge retrofitting and strengthening is necessary to ensure that bridges can survive strong currents of water since the area is prone to flooding.
“With the project’s completion, the Pambujan Bridge would have better and stable condition, thus, will continue to contribute to the economic development through accessible transportation of goods and services not only of the Municipality of Pambujan but the whole second district of Northern Samar,” DE Charlito added. (RHODORA R. PUJANTE, PIO STAFF)
TACLOBAN CITY – Mayor Gina Merilo of Tanauan, Leyte said that she will simplify the process of business permits as a way to encourage more investors to invest in their town.
Merilo said that attracting more business establishments to locate in their town is one of her main goals as this will result in job opportunities for her people.
Mayor Gina Merilo
The town mayor said that she has to lure in investors to Tanauan considering that its income has decreased due partly to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
From their share of national tax collection of P200 million last year, they have only received less than P32 million or P168 million for this year, Merilo disclosed.
Due to this decrease, Merilo said that she ordered her local finance team to improve their local tax collection by conducting tax mapping to encourage local businesses to pay taxes.
Merilo also noted that several businesses had also started opening their branches in Tanauan, adding that Metro Gaisano will soon start constructing its building.
“I made an appeal to investors who come to our municipality that in terms of hiring workers, if possible they prioritize hiring local workers or those from our town before hiring from outside,” Merilo said.
“We would like that aside from the LGU gaining income from the businesses, jobs must also be provided to our residents so that they would no longer look or apply for work outside our town,” Merilo added. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF – ELCAC) of the towns of Paranas and Jiabong, both in Samar, conducted “Serbisyo Caravan” benefitting their respective constituents.
The activity provided basic social and health services like free medical consultation, free circumcision, free haircut, free medicine, appliance repair, free vegetable seedlings, registration for 4Ps and senior citizens, distribution of nutria-bun, eco-bricks exchange program, and tree planting.
Both Mayors Eunice Babalcon of Paranas and Julie Cereno of Jiabong expressed their gratitude to the different government agencies and the military that supported the caravan.
In his message, Lt.Col.Luzelito Betinol, the commanding officer of the 87th Infantry Battalion, the caravan held in the two towns of Samar was part of the mandate to extend assistance to villagers living in remote areas.
“It also aims to solve community challenges such as the problem of insurgency by bridging the gaps in governance and development and implementing the necessary assistance from the government to achieve long-term peace, social equity, and prosperity,” he said.
Sing, sing, sing
One impression of people abroad regarding our OFWs is that, the latter are fond of singing. And many of them are good singers. If, in other countries, only gifted singers sing in public, people in our country do so even if their voices are terribly out of tune. We love to sing. We can’t help it. We aren’t just contented with listening to songs; we want to sing ourselves.
In every gathering—birthday party, wedding, anniversary, or a mere drinking session—singing is always a vital part of the show. Lucky if the group has a nice singer in it who can take the lead in the singing spree. If there’s none, the group will have to content with their own voices, though they may sound like horny cats.
This explains the proliferation of singing devices throughout the country. And the spread of pirated minus one and multiplex records.
It first started with the so-called jukebox, a big sound box installed in public places like bars and restaurants. But it only allowed people to choose their songs to listen to. There was no provision for them to sing along. If they wanted to, they could only sing in their seats without their voices registering in the loud speakers. The recording artist was still the one doing the singing as recorded.
To resolve this singing monopoly of the recording artist, the karaoke was invented. This time, anyone who can get hold of a microphone could participate in the singing, and choose the preferred songs. This was with the use of minus one or multiplex cassette records.
How the people welcomed its advent. Karaoke bars mushroomed in various places. Even can-afford households bought their own karaoke systems for home use. Neighbors could share with the sounds even if they are already retired in bed in the middle of the nights, amid the howling of dogs.
With the karaoke, though, a singer had to have the lyrics of the songs in hand, or he could not follow the songs well. When copies of those songs got lost, or damaged, a big problem followed. The singer would have to resort to humming.
To remedy this, another breakthrough was introduced, and that was the videoke. With this, loud speakers have to be aided with a TV monitor. As the singer sings, the lyrics of the songs appear on the monitor screen for ease of singing. Backgrounds of the lyrics could be had, too, depending on one’s choice—beautiful scenes, animals in the wild, sexy, near-naked girls, etc.
This is so common nowadays—the videoke, replacing the karaoke of old. We can see it everywhere, in special gatherings, as a form of entertainment among the people in attendance. And it’s not without pay-off. People especially children are developing their singing talents, enabling them to present excellent numbers during programs, making them win various awards in singing competitions, even allowing many of them to get international attention, as was the case of Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda, who are now international singing sensations.
All this is proof we really are a singing generation, a singing race.