Don't I look like a 1930's gal here? I'm posing in front of the 1932 Studebaker that we will use on our wedding day. More previews of our pre-nuptial pics at http://vierandjustine.blogspot.com.

Unearthing my native words

Kay Gat Andres Bonifacio

mula sa isang Hudas



At kung magkikita tayo

balang araw

sasabihin mong

ako’y taksil

dahil lumaki ako

sa wika at lahi

ng mga dayuhan

at hindi man lang ako

lumaban.

Nilulon ko

pati ang pagbigkas

ng bawat

salita,

pati pagsuot

ng damit,

pati

pagsulat.

Nilulon, minahal,

inangkin.

Sinusugatan kita,

kadugo ko,

kapatid.

Turuan mo akong

masaktan,

magalit.

Gisingin mo

ako.


This poem won 3rd place in the Pandaylipi, Ink. and NCCA sponsored contest on Gat Andres Bonifacio back in 1996 or 1997(Prize was P2000 at the time). I felt like such a fraud because I usually don’t write in Filipino. But I’m glad I tried my hand at it and succeeded at writing a poem worth publishing. Anyway, a recent e-mail correspondence with a Peaks (a group of local poets) moderator allowed me to resurrect this poem. A language that is not sustained with literature will die. Here's to all our Filipino writers who continue to write in their native language.

Yahoo! Globe G-Cash wins a GSM Association Award!

Philippines wins GSM award with Globe G-Cash

Globe G-Cash, the breakthrough mobile commerce service from Globe Telecom, brought honor to the Philippines as it made telco history as the first awardee for “Best Mobile Messaging Service” in the prestigious GSM Association Awards. The category for “Best Mobile Messaging Service” is new this year, making G-Cash’s victory a true milestone. Further, Globe Telecom received the distinction of being the only Filipino telecommunications company on this year’s short list for the prestigious GSM Awards for both “Best Mobile Messaging Service” and across all categories.

The GSM Association (GSMA), a worldwide organization of GSM mobile operators, presented the award to Globe President and CEO Gerardo C. Ablaza, Jr. February 15th at Les Ambassadeurs, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France. The event was part of the annual 3GSM Congress, a prestigious gathering of CEOs and decision makers in the global telecommunications industry.

G-Cash transforms Globe Telecom’s subscribers’ phones into “mobile wallets”. With only a mobile phone and SMS (US$0.02 per local text), subscribers can buy goods and services, send money person-to-person, receive domestic fund transfers and international remittances. It is truly mobile, being the first and only cashless AND cardless payment platform in the Philippines.

G-Cash won “Best Mobile Messaging Service” on the strength of its revolutionary use of SMS or texting, to facilitate the most popular commerce transactions – purchases, fund transfers and remittances and as mentioned in the GSM Awards, “… for providing financial services to those previously unserved…”.

An international panel of judges, composed of independent industry experts, executives and analysts determined the 13 winners for 13 categories, out of 61 finalists and 480 entries.

President and CEO Ablaza further adds, “The single biggest beneficiary of G-Cash is the Filipino people. The m-commerce enabled by G-Cash is tailor-fit to the average Filipino’s texting, buying and payment habits, making it as comfortable and easy to use as the mobile phone he now no longer leaves home without. G-Cash empowers consumers by making goods and services, and fund transfers available to them through a medium that they trust and they are familiar with: the mobile phone.”

Globe Telecom continues to trailblaze mobile commerce via continued G-Cash innovation. Examples of these are a pilot project for the first SMS-based microfinance model in partnership with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, business registrations in partnership with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and enabling donations to Unicef and the Philippine National Red Cross.

Globe Telecom is one of the leading providers of mobile telecommunications services in the Philippines. Globe Telecom pioneered text messaging and various mobile multimedia services in the Philippines. Its mobile services are offered in the Philippines under the brand names “Globe Handyphone” and “Touch Mobile”. Its electronic load value transfer service “Share-a-Load” won an award as the “Most Innovative Service of the Year” in last year’s Asia Mobile News Awards. The company was also named the “Best GSM Carrier” of the TelecomAsia awards in 2004. Globe Telecom is an affiliate of Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines’ leading conglomerates, and Singapore Telecom, one of the largest Asian telecommunications carriers.