Dinagyang Festival 2012 List Of Winners

          For the second time, Tribu Pan-ay of Fort San Pedro National High School defended their title and once again emerged as the over-all champion of the world famous Dinagyang Festival 2012 on a joyous, festive celebration marked by a sudden conflagration that gutted down more than a hundred houses and lasted for several hours.
       Aside from the top prize, Tribu Pan-ay also collected several special awards from opening salvo to the main competition awards like Music, Performance, Choreography. 1st runner-up went to Tribu Lunok of Iloilo City National High School, 2nd runner-up went to Tribu Ilonganon of Jalandoni Memorial National High School, 3rd runner-up went to Tribu Paghidaet of Lapaz National High School and 4th runner-up went to Tribu Atub-atub of Brgy. Veterans Village.
       Dinagyang Festival competition which was started in 1970 is the only Philippine festival that has an official mascot named Dagoy and goes on a world tour in promoting not just the festival but also the Philippines as a tourist destination. Last year 2011, the winning tribe, Tribu Pan-ay went on to perform in New York City and other neighboring U.S. cities for the Philippine Independence Day event sponsored by the Filipino community there. This year, the winner will hopefully travel to Guam to perform as per invitation of the governor of Guam.

The List of Winners Including Those From Other Events is as follows:

Tambor Trumpa Martsa Musika Drum and Lyre Corps Competition:

Champion - Alimodian Central Elementary School Drum and Lyre Corps
2nd Place - Dingle Central Elementary School Drum and Lyre Corps
3rd Place - Rizal Elementary School


Kasadyahan Regional Cultural Competition

CHAMPION - Salakayan Festival (Miag-ao, Iloilo)
1st Runner-up - Tribu Mandaragat, Binirayan Festival (Antique)
2nd Runner-up - Sinulog sang Urakon Festival (Guimaras)
3rd Runner-up - Sinadya Sa Halaran Festival (Capiz)
4th Runner-up - Tribu Maragtas (WVSU, Iloilo)



Dinagyang Festival Ati Street Dance Competition


Special Awards
Opening Salvo

Best In Costume - Tribu Pan-ay
Best In Discipline - Tribu Pan-ay 

Best In Performance - Tribu Pan-ay


Contest Proper

Special Awards
Best In Street Dance - Tribu Lunok
Best In Discipline - Tribu Paghidaet
Best Costume Designer - Tribu Pan-ay
Best In Head Dress - Tribu Paghidaet
Best Musical Director - Tribu Pan-ay
Best Choreographer - Romel Flogen, Tribu Pan-ay


Minor Awards
Best In Music - Tribu Pan-ay
Best In Choreography - Tribu Pan-ay
Best In Performance - Tribu Pan-ay


Major Awards  

Champion – Tribu Pan-ay (Fort San Pedro National High School)
1st Runner Up – Tribu Lunok (Iloilo City National High School)
2nd Runner Up – Tribu Ilonganon (Jalandoni Memorial National High School)
3rd Runner Up – Tribu Paghidaet (La Paz National High School)
4th Runner Up – Tribu Atub-Atub (Brgy. Veterans Village, Jaro Iloilo City)

Tribu Pan-ay, Dinagyang Festival 2012 Champion

Tribu Lunok, Dinagyang Festival 2012 1st runner-up

Tribu Ilonganon, Dinagyang Festival 2012 2nd runner-up

Tribu Paghidaet, Dinagyang Festival 2012 3rd runner-up

Dinagyang Festival Official Theme Song

World Gay Partner Carrying and World Friend Carrying Championship Here In Iloilo

There will be a proposed World Gay Partner Carrying Championship and World Friend Carrying Championship as well as World Creative Fashion Month and Competition all to be held in Iloilo, Philippines. Organizations, institutions and interested parties as well as sponsorship deals from companies are very much welcomed because we want this event to be highly successful with some Hollywood celebrities, Victoria's Secret model and other supermodels will be gracing and be part of the events.

Philippine Government Under President Benigno S. Aquino III Administration Shaky, Ineffective and Illegitimate

             Philippines is making a headline again this week because the Department of Justice cabinet secretary of President Aquino, Secretary Leila de Lima made a serious offense by ignoring Supreme Court ruling of temporary restraining order of hold departure list implemented by her office on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and she insisted on it. The hysteria was triggered when the critical health condition of the ailing former President was decided for her to seek treatment in other countries where medical expertise is sufficient for her illness. According to Secretary Leila de Lima, Arroyo already has a pending case that allowed their office to issue a hold departure list for her. Former President Arroyo is faced with several lawsuit including election manipulation in the 2004 Presidential elections or electoral fraud and also countless of graft and corruption charges. De Lima insisted that the temporary restraining order by her office will not work against the hold departure list order and she is ready to face the contempt of court in doing so defending her claim and order.The Aquino administration said that it is just doing their job right to sweep clean the dirty government left by previous administration meeting their goal and party slogan "matuwid na daan" (straight path). There is a gap between the present administration and the Supreme Court because the present administration feels that the Supreme Court which consists of members mostly appointed by the previous administration will do favors for Gloria Arroyo who appointed them and that they are bias justices and some people fear that these irreconcilable differences and dispute may lead to Constitutional Crisis and that the present administration feel is more than the martial law implemented by former president Ferdinand Marcos for human rights abuse to anyone including but not limited to the former president regardless of who she was. It is fine to prosecute someone who made a serious offense and also to make a sincere determination to begin a upright government for the people and for the nation but without depriving one's rights. The present administration is not fair in treating other individuals who were persecuted by the law because they are warm and friendly to a former president and a convicted criminal and former police chief because the present president has close ties or friendship with the mentioned men. The former was convicted and imprisoned before but was pardoned by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the latter after the court finds him guilty based on sufficient evidence enough to implicate him for his crimes went on hiding in other countries but after President Aquino was elected and made sure that he will be safe and guided accordingly if he returns home, surfaced out of nowhere surprising the people. Nowadays, the former police chief and now a senator is free and happy and no pending case is filed against him. The militant protesters are surprisingly quiet this present administration because they know many blind and ignorant people are patronizing the president and a son of former President Corazon Aquino and the assassinated senator Benigno Aquino Jr. but during the previous administration when there are lots of complaints and issues even sensationalized by the media, these militant protesters are very noisy, rowdy and violent riding on the sentiments of the masses just to gain sympathy for their group. Presently, the present administration has no clear policies and platforms underlining his government and what can it attain in the next six years of his presidency yet the administration is only proud of its accomplishments. He is a very ineffective, inefficient and very disappointing president but I don't care because I did not vote for him and there will be no regrets for me unlike millions of Filipinos now who are full of regrets and remorse for electing a lousy and ineffective leader of a country.
            The present administration under Benigno S. Aquino III is illegitimate because it does not respect and follow the Supreme Court decision and orders thus, does not uphold the law saying that the Chief Justice and most Associate of the Supreme Court were midnight appointees of the past corrupt president and therefore they know no Supreme Court and laws but their own laws because their law is an upright law not the Supreme Court appointed by previous administration. I don't know if the present administration is really sincere to have an upright government with a very disciplined people to attain his goal of a "matuwid na daan" for a "Brighter Philippines."

Miss World 2011 Winner

Congratulations Philippines' Gwendoline Ruais for winning at Miss World 2011 at Earls Court, London. For being our country's first title holder of the beauty pageant, you make us very proud of you and we are very happy for you. We are excited for you to come home.

Boracay Islands Named One of the Best Islands In The World; Bangkok The Best City In The World

       The influential and respected US travel magazine Travel + Leisure named Boracay Island in Malay town in the province of Aklan in the Philippines as one of the best islands in the world ranked number four just three notches behind Santorini, Greece as the best island in the world. On the other hand, Bangkok, Thailand was named as the best city in the world which they won for the second consecutive year. Announced as part of its World's Best 2011 Awards issue to be published on July 22, the prestigious title was awarded based on the thousands of votes of Travel + Leisure readers who voted for cities, islands, hotels and cruises around the world. Read the full rankings at http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/

The Top 10 Best Cities

                                                  Score

1 Bangkok                                  90.49

2 Florence                                  89.92

3 Rome                                      88.45

4 New York City                        88.40

5 Istanbul                                   88.18

6 Cape Town                              88.06

7 Siem Reap, Cambodia              87.90

8 Sydney                                    87.84

9 Barcelona                                87.83

10 Paris                                      87.78

The Top 10 Best Islands

1 Santorini, Greece                              90.61

2 Bali                                                  90.45

3 Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia       89.90

4 Boracay, Philippines                         89.83 Debut

5 Great Barrier Reef Islands, Australia 89.68

6 Sicily, Italy                                       89.51

7 Big Island, Hawaii                            89.11

8 Kauai                                              88.99

9 Maui                                               88.59

10 Galápagos                                      88.22

The Top 10 Best Hotels

1 Singita Grumeti Reserves (Sasakwa Lodge, Sabora Tented Camp, Faru Faru Lodge), Serengeti National Park, Tanzania   98.44

2 Singita Sabi Sand (Ebony Lodge, Boulders Lodge, Castleton Camp), Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa                    97.95

3 Royal Malewane, Kruger Area, South Africa           97.88

4 ol Donyo Lodge, Kenya Game Parks                       97.71 Debut

5 Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India                              97.70

6 Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana                      97.10

7 Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai, Thailand 97.00

8 Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India                                       96.92

9 Kirawira Luxury Tented Camp, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania                                                                       96.71

10 Serengeti Migration Camp, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania                                                                       96.50

The Top 10 Best Large Ship Cruise-Lines

1 Crystal Cruises                               92.45

2 Regent Seven Seas                         90.14

3 Oceania Cruises                             86.42

4 Disney Cruise Line                         85.70

5 Cunard Line                                   84.27

6 Azamara Club Cruises                    82.51

7 Celebrity Cruises                            81.92

8 Holland America Line                    81.29

9 Royal Caribbean International        80.28

10 Princess Cruises                          79.81

The Top 10 Best Family Hotels in U.S. & Canada

1 Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Orlando                 95.72

2 Sanderling Resort & Spa, Duck, North Carolina 94.44

3 Beaver Creek Lodge, Beaver Creek                           93.85

4 Eliot Hotel, Boston                                                    93.75

5 Four Seasons Resort, Jackson Hole, Wyoming            93.64

6 Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek, Colorado 93.48

7 Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa, Jackson Hole       93.33

8 Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Orlando                          93.21

9 Sagamore Resort, Adirondacks, New York                93.10

10 Grand Wailea, Maui                                                93.09

The Top Ten Best Spas

1 Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa, New Zealand 98.93 Debut

2 Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans                                 98.00 Debut

3 Couples Tower Isle, Jamaica                              97.67

4 Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Rome 96.92 Debut

5 Omni Bedford Springs Resort, Pennsylvania       96.50 Debut

6 Couples Sans Souci, St. Mary, Jamaica              95.86

7 Discovery Shores, Boracay, Phillippines            95.63 Debut

8 Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok                             95.35

9 Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris                  95.33

10 St. Regis Hotel, Singapore                              95.23 Debut

Major World Events In Four Days

Three major world events that jubilant world rejoices and celebrates took place in just four (4) days. First, the royal wedding of Prince William on April 29 in West Minster Abbey, UK, the beatification of the now Blessed Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla, real name) in Vatican City, and the killing of the world's most hated terrorist and criminal Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden in his mansion in Pakistan made the world a safer place to live gives inspiration and hope to everybody.

Queen Elizabeth II Finally Is Now On Facebook, Yay!

             What better way to reach out to people making sure they are updated and well-informed about the government’s programs, activities and other announcements and aware of what is happening around the nation. I know the Queen has a better idea.
           It is by using the most powerful reliable medium available used by most people today in connecting with family, friends and acquaintances – social networking. And what is the most popular social networking site with a membership of more than half a billion? Facebook – yes, Facebook and the Queen made the right connection with Facebook.
          United Kingdom’s British Monarchy is the latest addition to the growing family of the most popular social networking site today that it has become a pop culture icon. It has been decided y the Royal Crown to set up a Facebook account to reach out to its people and make the British Monarchy accessible to masses. It is a smart move of the Royal Crown to effectively address its citizen’s concerns. When it comes to transparency, people can voice out their concerns, sentiments, opinions to the Royal Family so it may become more humane and kind. Furthermore, people of different nationalities may have a view and keep informed about the Queen and the Royal Family where it has been very elusive to the public eye.
           I have added the British Monarchy page to one of my likes and interests so I can keep in touch with the British monarch and if lucky enough, it will be an honor and privilege for me to work in the royal palace. I am excited to see Queen Elizabeth mingling with people through Facebook. I know Mark Zuckerberg is elated and honored to have the Queen graced his social networking site but I don’t think he is reading my blog though I want to work for him as well.